"Piano Eminence"
McCoy Tyner, solo
Sunday, May 6 • 7pm
$75
$55
$40
$25
“A marvel to behold”—Washington Post
Program Notes
From 1960 to 1965 the John Coltrane Quartet was the most influential group in jazz and McCoy Tyner was its sonic bedrock. His aggressive, blues-influenced chording style opened up the harmonic possibilities for Coltrane's searching saxophone and put him among the top ranks of jazz pianists. "He's been a musical prophet," said pianist Mulgrew Miller. "He's brought forth new musical truths and a sound that's here to stay and that will influence music for a long time to come."
Tyner's importance as a jazz musician is just as evident on his own recordings. Key discs from the late ’60s and early ’70s like Expansions, Sahara, Enlightenment, and the solo tribute to Coltrane, Echoes of a Friend, demonstrate his growth as an artist and band leader, drawing on African and Eastern musical influences while revealing a stylistic debt to fellow Philadelphia native and mentor Bud Powell. He has worked with a rare set of his musical peers including Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson, as well as next-generation masters Michael Brecker and Stanley Clarke. In 2002 he was honored as an NEA Jazz Master. 2004's Illuminations proved that Tyner still has plenty of creative energy, earning the piano master and sidemen (including saxophonist Gary Bartz and trumpeter Terence Blanchard) a Grammy Award for "Best Instrumental Jazz Album."
Though he continues to produce tremendous music with his trio, septet, and big band, tonight's performance is a distinctive treat. Tyner performs solo infrequently, though it is something he seems to like to share exclusively with San Francisco audiences. His 2003 solo performance was one of the most memorable concerts of the season. Jazz critic Gary Giddins noted "[Tyner] has been a looming presence for so long and the stylistic progenitor of so many other players that to hear him at the pinnacle of his powers is to discover again why he held a generation of pianists spellbound."
Lewis E. Byrd
