The Jazz Con Class listeners will enjoy this 1963 album by well known Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and considered to be the best of his Impulse recordings the “experts” say. In my opinion, McCoy Tyner’s impulse recordings are all fantastic but there’s less popularity on trio recordings and 3 of the 6 were and not appreciated as much. Of the remaining three, you have a Live in Newport, a tribute album to Duke Ellington and this one which will be featured here. There are actually two versions of “Today and Tomorrow“, this one is the original one (Remastered) and has 6 songs. The second version was released later (Remastered also) has 3 additional songs, making it 9 altogether. I read about it here but still cannot find the 2nd version or those 3 additional songs anywhere. “Today and Tomorrow” will be featured for a week or so, check the schedule link for play times.
About the album:
The great pianist McCoy Tyner teams up with trumpeter Thad Jones, altoist Frank Strozier, tenor saxophonist John Gilmore (on vacation from Sun Ra), bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Elvin Jones on the first three selections of this reissue CD; it is a pity that the potentially exciting group did not have more of an opportunity to play together, for these three numbers are excellent…….Read More
McCoy Tyner Biography:
Tyner’s blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists.
Born in 1938 in Philadelphia, he became a part of the fertile jazz and R&B scene of the early ’50s. His parents imbued him with a love for music from an early age. His mother encouraged him to explore his musical interests through formal training.
At 17 he began a career-changing relationship with Miles Davis’ sideman saxophonist John Coltrane. Tyner joined Coltrane for the classic album My Favorite Things (1960), and remained at the core of what became one of the most seminal groups in jazz history, The John Coltrane Quartet. The band, which also included drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison, had an extraordinary chemistry, fostered in part by Tyner’s almost familial relationship with Coltrane.
From 1960 through 1965, Tyner’s name was propelled to international renown, as he developed a new vocabulary that transcended the piano styles of the time, providing a unique harmonic underpinning and rhythmic charge essential to the group’s sound. He performed on Coltrane’s classic recordings such as Live at the Village Vanguard, Impressions and Coltrane’s signature suite, A Love Supreme.
In 1965, after over five years with Coltrane’s quartet, Tyner left the group to explore his destiny as a composer and bandleader. Among his major projects is a 1967 album entitled The Real McCoy, on which he was joined by saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Ron Carter and fellow Coltrane alumnus Elvin Jones. His 1972 Grammy-award nomination album Sahara, broke new ground by the sounds and rhythms of Africa. Since 1980, he has…..Read More
