Guitars (CD/DVD)

McCoy Tyner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: MCCOY TYNER MUSIC
• ASIN: B001D84S0Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,087 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Improvisation 2 (with Marc Ribot)

2. Passion Dance (with Marc Ribot)

3. 500 Miles (with Marc Ribot)

4. Mr. P.C. (with John Scofield)

5. Blues On The Corner (with John Scofield)

6. Improvisation 1 (with Marc Ribot)

7. Trade Winds (with Bela Fleck)

8. Amberjack (with Bela Fleck)

9. My Favorite Things (with Bela Fleck)

10. Slapback Blues (with Derek Trucks)

11. Greensleeves (with Derek Trucks)

12. Contemplation (with Bill Frisell)

13. Boubacar (with Bill Frisell)

14. Baba Drame (with Bill Frisell)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McCoy and guests, just what you'd expect, September 23, 2008

By 

Matthew Miller "jazzplayer" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guitars (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

I had no idea this was coming out until I saw it by chance in a store today and can now happily report that it is another excellent outing by the longstanding jazz master, McCoy Tyner in the middle of a phenomenal jazz trio with a number of distinguished guests. The trio consists of McCoy with Ron Carter on bass and Jack Dejohnette on drums. The guests are all either guitarists or in the case of Bela Fleck, a banjo player. The result is a varied, always interesting takes on a number of songs, including some Tyner standards, some classic Coltrane songs and a few of the guests' compositions for good measure.

The trio at the standard is exactly what you would expect, namely, superb. The skills of Tyner, Carter and Dejohnette have already in numerous places been praised, so I see no need to say anything other than that they live up to there reputations here. Especially Dejohnette, a personal favorite of mine, who constantly amazes with his sense of time, accent and space within the band. Only one person could have possibly done it better than him, in my opinion, and that would have been Elvin Jones. In the end, he and Ron Carter provide a very solid core over which McCoy and guests experiment. McCoy himself is continuing to go strong as he has in the past.

The guests, obviously, make this recording interesting, and there is a lot in there contributions. There are five of them (Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Bela Fleck, Derek Trucks and Bill Frisell) and each has a very distinctive style and repertoire. The result is that the album is varied, not so varied as to lack cohesion, but varied enough to remain interesting throughout. Their very specifics sorts of tones add a lot to the mix of the album. Trucks, for instance is very blues driven, while Scofield has a wider, more mellow tone. A personal favorite for me is Bela Fleck. Anyone familiar with his album with Chick Corea, 'The Enchantment', will know how versatile and talented he is. Here he plays three songs, two of his originals and 'My Favorite Things'. His compositions are probably the most interesting on the album, distinctive from the more standard sounding sorts of songs (like the Coltrane blues 'Mr PC') and they offer McCoy a different sort of space to some into musically. That being said, Bela also fits right in on 'My Favorite things' demonstrating some very healthy, sometimes Trane-like complicated licks. John Scofield is my next favorite. He really tears it up 'Mr PC', so much so, that McCoy remarks afterwards that the guitar had to have caught on fire.

Which brings me to my last point, and a great surprise for me, the Bonus DVD. The quote from Tyner cannot be found on the album itself, but on the DVD, which contains studio video of some of the songs from the album. For each song, there is a section while they warm up and discuss the way they will play the song, and then there is the song itself, followed by a brief period of conversation. The song is obviously the most interesting part, as you get to see the musicians actually performing. The best part of this arrangement, are the multiple camera angles. They had four cameras in the studio, one on each musician and there are six different viewing options. The first one is pre-edited and switches from musician to musician. The second one shows all angles simultaneously and the last four show just one specific musician (like Jack Dejohnette, all the way through the song). This was a very interesting feature, Which I had a lot of fun with, being able to watch the musicians work is incredibly impressive, to say the least.

All in All, this was a solid production. I do not think that it is the next 'A Love Supreme', but certainly worth looking into for fans of any of the musicians involved. You will not be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Star Trio and Interesting Mix of Different Guitar styles, January 24, 2009

By 

Scott Williams "sneakyneighborsdog" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guitars (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

Overview:
Pianist McCoy Tyner teams up with jazz legends Ron Carter (bass) and Jack Dejohnette (drums) to form a powerful foundation in his new CD guitars. This trio is joined by 5 different special guest guitarists, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Bela Fleck, Derek Trucks and Marc Ribot. While some Tyner fans might be disappointed that McCoy deviated from his typical albums, I welcome the change. This CD is a totally unique addition to McCoy's catalog and succeeds on many levels. The key to the success of this album is that they didn't go and pick the 5 best jazz guitarists. Instead they picked guitarists who have diverse styles each with their own strongly defined personality. While I'm not really a fan of Bela Fleck or Dereck Trucks, including them on this album was genious. Not only do they play great, but their unique style of playing adds great diversity to the album and provides some fascinating variations to some classic tunes. John Scofield and Bill Frisell fans will love the hearing these jazz guitar legends play for the first time with McCoy Tyner. Prior to listening to this album I was not familiar with Marc Ribot. At first listen his shredding electric style of playing seemed a little bit too much. However, on further listens I have really grown to love the versions of Passion Dance and 500 Miles. Passion Dance really is a burner of a tune and Ribot's electric assault really works. McCoy Tyner style plays with amazing dexterity and power. It is simply amazing at his age that he is still able to generate a tremendous wall of sound with his powerful left handed chords. In addition to being a great CD to listen to, a DVD is included with album that shows the group recording in the studio. It is wonderful to be able to hear the artists discuss and debate changes to the arrangements, and then to be able to see them record the music. The only knock against the DVD is at times it is hard to hear some of conversations they are having.

Song Highlights:
Mr PC - John Scofield is absolutely amazing on this classic John Coltrane tune. John plays a ripping version of the melody (usually played by a sax). McCoy has a nice piano solo as well, and when Scofield comes in towards the end of Tyner's solo with some 2 new chords on his guitar it is just magic. Ron Carter also has a nice bass solo on this one.

Contemplation - This has always been one of my favorite Tyner tunes. The title of the song is perfect for this deeply moving and reflective song. Frisell's style of play: the ability to play the same chord 10,000 different ways and his mastery of spacing fit perfectly into this tune.

Tradewinds - All of the tracks with Bela Fleck on this CD are unbelievable. This is coming from someone who is not a Bela Fleck fan. I would even go so far as to say that the Bela Fleck tracks are the best on the CD. Bela's banjo playing and McCoy's piano playing are surprisingly just the perfect fit for each. It was hard to pick the highlight of these tracks, but tradewinds was a new song to me and I love melody.

If you are a big fan of Tyner, Scofield and Frisell, like me you simply must go out and pick up this CD. Don't worry about some of the negative reviews on this site. You will not be disappointed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This one is a winner, February 3, 2009

By 

Anthony Cooper (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guitars (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

You never know what you're going to get when a jazz artist brings in a series of high-profile guest artists. Some of those discs are messes, but some win you over. This one is a winner. McCoy Tyner's resume is very extensive, but he hasn't done much with guitarists. Along with an ace rhythm section of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, McCoy teams up with five guitarists. The five guitarists are Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Béla Fleck, Derek Trucks, and Bill Frisell. The only 'safe' choice on that list is John Scofield. The rest are most daring than I'd expect McCoy to play with - Béla Fleck is a banjo player, not even a guitarist! You also can't call it a meeting of the old guard with the young guns, since Ribot, Scofield, Fleck, and Frisell are all in their 50's. Though Trucks is in his 20's, he's a rock/blues guitarist, so he isn't a jazz young gun.

Marc Ribot starts things off with a fast and fun "Passion Dance", then a bluesier "500 Miles". Ribot and Tyner also have two improvised duets which aren't quite as good as the quartet songs. "Mr. P. C." sounds exactly like John Scofield from the first notes. Similar to "Passion Dance", it's a very good up-tempo jam. "Blues On The Corner" has a more structured melody, and Scofield again is in fine form. Béla Fleck's three songs aren't bad, and he's certainly brave to take on "My Favorite Things". Banjo is inherently a less expressive instrument than the guitar. Derek Trucks has a blues and "Greensleeves". Since Coltrane's version of "Greensleeves" isn't as classic as "My Favorite Things", it's not too risky a choice. Trucks is pretty good - he plays expressively and a tad simpler than the full-time jazz guys. Bill Frisell plays on "Contemplation", a McCoy Tyner song, then "Boubacar" and "Baba Drame" which were on Frisell's "The Intercontinentals". "Contemplation" is fine, then "Boubacar" and "Baba Drame" are hypnotic. There was no piano on "The Intercontinentals", but Tyner's chiming piano meshes with Frisell's Telecaster very well. There's a lot of focus on the guitarists, but Tyner's piano is strong, and Carter and DeJohnette are naturally excellent.

This CD comes together very well, and it's one of the better jazz CD's of 2008. The CD also has a bonus DVD, with one song by each of the guests. The DVD is neat because you can show each player individually, or all players at the same time. Somehow I find it easier to catch the subtleties of jazz drumming when I can see the drummer. This CD should appeal to just about anyone, and is recommended.