McCoy Tyner Piano Solo in Munich

It was McCoy Tyner’s driving, “two-handed” playing style that ultimately etched his name into jazz history, though many associate his name with John Coltrane following his work as part of the Great Quartet. Since leaving to build his staggering solo career in 1965, Tyner pursued personal feeling in music, departing from the free, atonal soundscapes that Coltrane used to revolutionize the jazz of the era. 

This concert, recorded at the Munich Summer Piano Festival in 1983, demonstrates his low bass left and the way he raised his hand high above the keys to mount emphatic attacks, always consistent with his rich harmonic texturing that drew on the blues as well as pentatonic scales. He plays singular renditions of well-known pieces, like “It’s You Or No One” and “In A Sentimental Mood” along with original compositions, settling into the freedom that the solo format provides.