McCoy Tyner: Guitars

As McCoy Tyner approaches 70, it would have been very easy for him to rest on his considerable laurels. As the pianist in the John Coltrane ensemble that has become known simply as "The Classic Quartet", as the progenitor of a rhythmic block-chord approach to the piano that has become widely adopted, his fame was assured. Instead he has continuously reinvented himself pulling in African and World Music influences, recording solo piano, on harpsichord, celeste and koto, performing with tap dancer Savion Glover, working with string ensembles and big band and building a large body of compositions which have entered the standards realm. Tyner reinvents himself once more on his recent Guitars project which, along with long-time associates Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, puts him in the musical company of some of the foremost string players on the scene today: John Scofield, Marc Ribot, Derek Trucks, Bill Frisell and Bela Fleck (on banjo as an honorary guitarist for this date). Although McCoy Tyner admits that the initial concept for the project didn't originate with him, he's pointed out in interviews that his collaborating with guitarists is nothing new. He appeared on a couple of Grant Green quartet recordings for Blue Note in the '60s, even recording a version of My Favorite Things. He collaborated and toured with Carlos Santana in the early 80s although no commercial recordings were released. And perhaps most intriguingly, he's spoken glowingly in pointing out that the guitarist Wes Montgomery briefly joined the Coltrane Quartet in the mid-60s; rumours have surfaced periodically of uncirculated tapes of a west coast performance but to date none have come to light. It's often been said that after saxophonists, John Coltrane's strongest influence on musicians has been on guitarists and it's not surprising that several of the players on the Guitars recording pay direct homage to that influence. Derek Trucks, a stylistic descendant of Duane Allman and featured performer in the current incarnation of the Allman Brothers, is showcased on Greensleeves which Tyner originally arranged for the Coltrane Quartet. The virtuoso banjoist Bela Fleck (whose talent I believe is wasted in the facile Flecktones recordings) turns in a wonderfully distinctive performance on My Favorite Things. My favorite performances on Guitars feature Bill Frisell who deftly uses his collaboration to pay tribute to the Malian guitarist Boubacare Traore. If the late Ali Farka Toure was Mali's John Lee Hooker, Traore is Mali's Mississippi John Hurt with a light fingerpicking style that owes as much to the kora and the griot tradition as the Mississippi delta. The recording finishes with Frisell's composition Boubacare and then a performance of Traore's Baba Drame, both of which are built around hypnotic shimmering guitar figures intertwined by Frisell and Tyner. The sole drawback of Guitars is an error in programming, not performance - the recording begins with an 'outside' improvisation with Marc Ribot which I think may have been off-putting to a number of reviewers who have unfairly dismissed the recording in overlooking its many strengths. Although the improvisations are certainly worthy of inclusion, a better lead-off track would have been Ribot's feature in the Wes-inspired 500 Miles or the enthusiastic rendering of McCoy Tyner's Passion Dance. But the thing I like most about this project, and something that many other reviewers have noted, is that the distinctive personalities of all the participants, McCoy Tyner and all the guitarists, comes through without compromise. Every note on the record is done in a collaborative spirit and in the service of the music - this is a great record! The Guitars project released on Half Note and McCoy Music is both a CD and accompanying DVD. The DVD has over 3 hours of video from the sessions and rehearsals with interactive multiple viewing angles, it's like being a fly on the wall in the studio. Here's the trailer for a quick taste: McCoy Tyner is currently on tour with Gerald Cannon on bass and Eric Kamau Gravatt on drums. Apart from a week at Yoshi's in Oakland and a 70th Birthday Celebration week at the Blue Note in NYC, there are only a handful of dates. Fortunately the only Canadian date brings McCoy Tyner and the Guitars Project to the Chan Centre in Vancouver this Saturday November 15 at 8 PM with special guest Marc Ribot. Visit http://mccoytyner.com/, www.globalartsconcerts.com or www.chancentre.com for more information. Post comments in the Jazz Forum