McCoy Tyner confirmed for Jz Shanghai Music Festival, Friday 21 October 2011/Jazz Festival

Jz Music is proud to announce the forthcoming Shanghai concert premiere of an extraordinary piano talent, winner of 5 Grammys, McCoy Tyner.

Event

Friday 21 October, 2011
Shanghai Centre Theatre
8pm

“McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Jose James and Chris Potter
A Contemporary Exploration of John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman”

Background

Impulse! Records celebrates their 50th Anniversary with a special recording
and tour including McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Jose James and Chris Potter, a
contemporary exploration of John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

In 1963 Johnny Hartman was asked to consider singing with John Coltrane for
the only vocal album that John Coltrane would perform on as a leader. At
first Hartman was reluctant as he did not consider himself a jazz singer,
but he was eventually persuaded to attend Coltrane’s gig at the Birdland
Club. After the club closed Hartman and Coltrane joined pianist McCoy Tyner
to go over some songs together. On March 7th, 1963, the renowned saxophonist
and the baritone balladeer went on to record a historic collection of
standards with the majority of the recording done in one take. The
renditions of these standards by these two giants went on to become
definitive versions and are still revered today.

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 also arranged his lavishly textured harmonies for a big band that performs and records when possible. In the late 1980s, he mainly focused on his piano trio featuring Avery Sharpe on bass and Aarron Scott on drums. Today, this trio is still in great demand. He returned to Impulse in 1995, with a superb album featuring Michael Brecker. In 1996 he recorded a special album with the music of Burt Bacharach. In 1998 he changed labels again and recorded an interesting latin album and an album featuring Stanley Clarke for TelArc.
In the summer of 2005, Tyner joined forces with the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and became the first client of Blue Note Management. That summer, Tyner began work on some unique projects, including performances with tap-dancer Savion Glover and the development of the Impulse! Septet, featuring his trio with some of today’s top hornmen.
Tyner’s partnership with the Blue Note has led to the formation of his own record label, aptly titled McCoy Tyner Music. The label is a subsidiary of the Blue Note’s In-House record label, Half Note Records. The label launched on September 11, 2007, upon the release of Tyner’s latest CD, “Quartet” featuring Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, and Jeff “Tain” Watts. Recorded live on New Year’s Eve 2006, the album features a working band at its finest with some of today’s “legends in training.” Additionally, the record shows that Tyner, who now carries the torch as the only surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet, is still at the top of his game as a composer, performer, and bandleader.
In review of Tyner’s latest album “Quartet,” Thomas Conrad of JazzTimes wrote “‘Quartet’ succeeds not only because everyone plays so well, but also because they play so well together. The pairing of Tyner and Lovano is synergistic. The McBride/Watts rhythm section, for intelligent propulsion, is state-of-the-art. ‘Quartet’ succeeds once more because of its excellent sonic quality. It was recorded by engineer Phil Edwards at Yoshi’s in Oakland, Calif., over New Year’s Eve weekend 2006. Almost always, even the best-sounding jazz albums require you to make a choice. You can have the visceral in-the-moment reality of a live recording, or the full bandwidth resolution of a studio session. This one has both.”
McCoy Tyner’s second release for the McCoy Tyner Music label is scheduled for a summer 2008 release. The recording features the stellar rhythm section of Tyner, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette with four modern guitarists (and one banjo) of our time: Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Derek Trucks, and Bela Fleck. The package will be a CD/DVD featuring state-of-the-art technology that allows the viewer to manually choose which musician(s) they would like to view in the studio at any time during each track. In 2009, Tyner will release his third recording for McCoy Tyner Music, a solo piano performance recorded live in San Francisco during the summer of 2007.
Tyner has always expanded his vision of the musical landscape and incorporated new elements, whether from distant continents or diverse musical influences. More recently he has arranged for big bands, employed string arrangements, and even reinterpreted popular music. Today, Tyner has released nearly 80 albums under his name, earned four Grammys and was awarded Jazz Master from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He continues to leave his mark on generations of improvisers, and yet remains a disarmingly modest and spiritually directed man.

Awards:

2008 Presidential Merit Award from the Grammy Foundation

2005 Berklee College of Music President Roger Brown conferred honorary doctor of music degrees upon pianists McCoy Tyner and Hank Jones.

2004 Steinway and Sons conferred a special gold medallion to McCoy Tyner honoring his fiftieth year as a professional musician and his long association with Steinway as a Steinway Artist since 1977.

2004 McCoy Tyner’s album “Illuminations” receives a GRAMMY award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

2003 The Philadelphia Chapter of the BMI Recording Academy awarded McCoy Tyner with a “2003 Hero Award”. The Chapter presents its Heroes Awards annually to honor outstanding individuals and institutions in the Philadelphia region who have improved the environment for the creative community.

2002 McCoy Tyner receives a Jazz Master award from the National Endowment for the Arts. (2002 NEA Jazz Masters recipient)

1995 McCoy Tyner’s album “Infinity” receives a GRAMMY award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group.

1994 McCoy Tyner’s album “Journey” receives a GRAMMY award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance.
1992 McCoy Tyner’s album “The Turning Point” receives a GRAMMY award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance.

1988 The album “Blues for Coltrane – A Tribute to John Coltrane” receives a GRAMMY award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group. (The album features David Murray, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Cecil McBee & Roy Haynes)

1977 McCoy Tyner was named “Pianist of the Year” in the Down Beat Critics Poll for the fourth year in row. (1974 – 1977)

1977 McCoy Tyner’s band was selected “Acoustic Jazz Group” of the year in the Down Beat Critics Poll for the fourth year in row. (1974 – 1977)

1973 McCoy Tyner’s album “Sahara” receives two GRAMMY award nominations and was named ‘Record of the year’ in the Down Beat Critics Poll.