McCoy Tyner
Live Shot
Reviewed by Jay Trachtenberg, Fri., March 28, 2003
McCoy Tyner
One World Theatre, March 22It didn't take McCoy Tyner long to get down to business. As soon as he struck the first notes of "Mellow Minor," he and his top-shelf rhythm section -- bassist Charnet Moffett and drummer Al Foster -- were off and running, playing at a level most groups never dream of achieving. There isn't a piano player in jazz who performs with more authority or command than Tyner, as he proved throughout his hourlong second set of the evening. Whether interpreting an original like "December" ("the month I was born in," smiled the pianist), blazing through his former boss John Coltrane's classic "Moments Notice," or rendering a solo, contemplative ballad, Tyner made it all look easy, demonstrating his unparalleled mastery of tension and release. Midset, the band let loose one of Tyner's distinctly post-Coltrane, Afro-Asian, modal vehicles that generated the most intensity of the night as it rode Moffett's recurring heartbeat bassline. The trio ended the set in a similar vein, with Tyner's aptly titled "Goin' Home." Foster, who has put in long stints with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, wasn't given a lot of space but did manage to cleverly insert a line from "Salt Peanuts" during one of his brief solos. By contrast, Moffett, from the distinguished Fort Worth musical family, was right in the thick of it with his large, woody sound. He made the most of his solo space, most memorably on the closing tune, where he used an echo effect while alternating between standard plucking and dronelike bowing. Proving they hadn't forgotten the basics, the trio encored with a soulful, no-frills version of "St. Louis Blues." Jazz just doesn't get a whole lot better than this.