This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Maybe it’s because most of the big-name pop and rock acts are hibernating. Maybe it’s because I spent the last month swinging to the Rat Pack Christmas album. Or maybe it’s just because they both start with the letters J and A. Whatever. All I know is I always seem to listen to a lot of jazz in January. Looks like this year is no exception — thanks mainly to a cornucopia of cool titles that landed in stores before the holidays. At least four respected labels — Blue Note, ECM, Impulse and Verve — have impressive and affordable new retrospectives or reissues on the racks right now. Even if you don’t know be-bop from doo-wop, I suggest you give one or two a try. Here’s a little primer to help you get into the swing on McCoy Tyner:
WHO: Born in Philadelphia, pianist Tyner first impressed people when he spent five years in the quartet of saxophone colossus John Coltrane. Then, he impressed them more by striking out on his own — and proving he was a leader in his own right.
WHEN: Tyner’s first solo albums appeared while he was still backing up Coltrane in the early ’60s, and he’s still churning them out as we speak. Fun fact: During the late ’60s, he was a sideman for Ike and Tina!
WHAT YOU GET: No Ike and Tina cuts. Instead, enjoy eight numbers that go from the post-bop syncopation of 1962’s Inception and 1967’s Passion Dance to stylized and sophisticated versions of Coltrane’s Lonnie’s Lament and Naima, recorded in the ’90s.
WHERE HE FITS IN: Just a few steps behind his old boss.
