Saud McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner was the piano player during the most prolific period of John Coltrane's career, and was a member of the quartet considered the most "classic." Known for a percussive style of playing, his career has spanned many decades and many styles of jazz.

McCoy Tyner, like many other jazz musicians, was a Muslim, with the adopted name Saud; his spirituality is plainly evident in some significant body of his work.

Here is a discography of some of his work germain to the theme of this Website.


THE REAL McCOY
Blue Note 1967. Produced by Alfred Lion.

From Tyner's liner notes: "After I'd written it, 'Passion Dance' sounded to me like a kind of American Indian dance. It evoked ritual and trance-like states. I chose the title ['Search for Peace'] because the song has a tranquil feeling. Tranquil and personal. It's very difficult to verbalize about music; the important thing is what the listener himself gets from the act of listening. But insofar as I can verbalize about this piece, it has to do with a man's submission to God, with the giving over of the self to the universe."

EXPANSIONS
Blue Note 1968. Produced by Duke Pearson.

Capsule Info: "Song Of Happiness" was inspired by a visit to Japan.

COSMOS
Blue Note 1969. Produced by Duke Pearson.

Capsule Info: Double vinyl set I haven't seen as a whole. Three songs appear on the CD reissue of ASANTE, see below, and one, "Planet X", on the Blue Note 1997 CD compilation JAZZ PROFILE NO. 13: McCOY TYNER.

EXTENSIONS
Blue Note 1970. Produced by Francis Wolff.

Capsule Info: Alice Coltrane's harp and McCoy Tyner's piano playing becomes a great combination. The liner notes are filled with quotations from the Holy Quran.

ASANTE
Blue Note 1970?. Produced by Duke Pearson.

Capsule Info: Stellar spiritual/Afro-centric album from Tyner's last sessions for Blue Note. The energy that swirled through his Milestone recordings here begins to be evident. CD reissue includes several tracks from COSMOS.

SAHARA
Milestone Records, 1972. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: The classic of this period, SAHARA is framed by the album cover photo of Tyner sitting amidst the rubble of urban desolation. It's a meditation on deserts and our origins and human values in a new age.

SONG FOR MY LADY
Milestone Records, 1973. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: Typical early '70s Tyner.

SONG OF THE NEW WORLD
Milestone Records, 1973. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: Tyner achieves a glorious sound with full orchestra.

ENLIGHTENMENT
Milestone Records, 1974. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: Recorded live at Montreux in July 1973.

SAMA LAYUCA
Milestone Records, 1974. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: McCoy Tyner's trademark early '70s sound featuring the prominent percussionist Guillerme Franco. From Brian Auger's liner notes: "No wonder, then, that McCoy's music resounds with a strong African flavor and burns with a spiritual intensity that seems to carry on the tradition established by the late John Coltrane."

ATLANTIS
Milestone Records, 1975/1996. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: Recorded live in San Francisco in 1974.

TRIDENT
Milestone Records, 1975. Produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Capsule Info: Trio sessions.

LOVE & PEACE
Storyville Records, 1992. Produced by Taizo Fujii.

Capsule Info: Quintet sessions reuniting Coltrane vets and others; recorded in 1982.

 


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