Customer Reviews

Plays John Coltrane - Live at The Village Vanguard

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the composer who brings out the best in McCoy Tyner: the energy, the wisdom, the intelligence, the two handed technique. I bought this along with some other CDs and it was days before I got to the other ones. I kept listening to this over and over again. This is one of the best Tyner albums ever. It is not nostalgia for the "classic" quartet. The Afro Blue on here is much closer to the "with the Latin All-Stars" version than it is to Coltrane's version. It is the maturity that he has developed along with the respectful spirituality that this material commands, that makes the difference. The "I Want to Talk About you" isn't based on a note for note transcription of Coltrane's original version, Tyner digs into the cadenza not to emulate Coltrane, but to catch up to him. No offense to the other bassists, but George Mraz adds a maturity and a gravity to the proceedings that matches Tyner's mood. No drummer could match Elvin Jones's original playing but Al Foster is much more than window dressing here. Listen to the "Naima", "Moment's Notice" or "Crescent" a couple of times. A great CD although you may have heard these songs before. As Keith Jarrett's Standards bunch shows, it is not just the material it is the players and here they are in a league of their own.

I bought this record a while ago.. and it has taken me some time to digest and absorb all the music on this CD.First time I Iistened I felt that there were no song that really was standing out... but ..now...after repeated listening I must say I am overwhelmed. The last trio CD McCoy did was the one with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster... Foster is on this one as well.. I think he is the ideal drummer for Tyner... since he has that "elastic" rythm perception needed to play with McCoy.. Foster sounbds awfully good here.. and Mraz is closer to McCoy as well ..than Clarke is. Conclusion is.... this is a heck of a good CD by the best and most interesting pianoplayer of our time.Suddenly it has become difficult to pick a fave tune.. but my votes goes to Moments Notice

McCoy with George Mraz and Al Foster------awesome - wonder why this took so long to put out? Recorded Live at the Village Vanguard in 1997....Whatever - I'm happy it made it into my collection.

It is great to hear McCoy playing this music and also playing with different musicians than his regular band - this may be my favorite jazz cd for a long time

McCoy and Co. do a great job here (big surprise) jamming on some of Coltrane's most famous works (Naima, Moment's Notice, and Crescent are especially strong) along with the lesser-known 'Mr. Day'. This cd is the best stuff Tyner has done since 1995's wonderful "Infinity" disc. The Village Vanguard seems to provide such a wonderful, warm environment; it seems to bring out the best in these musicians. 'After the Rain' is also heartbreakingly beautiful. Great collaboration, great recording. Well worth the money. Highly recommended.

This is such a rewarding CD ! McCoy Tyner's recordings are among my favorites in jazz and in a trio setting he is really allowed to display his incredible virtuosity. Here he is beautifully accompanied by George Mraz and Al Foster. Mraz provides fine bass playing throughout and several of his solos are just outstanding as well. The drumming is perfectly suited to these arrangements of tunes recorded by Coltrane and Foster's drum solo on Afro Blue is wonderful.
I just caught Tyner's more recent trio with Eric Harland and Charnett Moffett performing in LA and they were playing as if they were of one mind. Harland's drumming is terrific as well. After seeing them and then listening to this I for one will never miss an opportunity to hear McCoy Tyner in a trio setting.
Buy this CD if you don't have it. You will be glad you did.

This live set of music associated with Mr. Tyner's former boss/collaborator rewards with repeated listening because this trio's music is greater than the sum of the parts. This is special praise considering that the players' individual contributions are unique and outstanding. The range of Tyner's creativity includes the gentle romanticism of "After The Rain", the controlled yet rhythmic passion of "Afro Blue", and the bright, soulful blues expression of "Mr. Day". Please note that it is often overlooked that McCoy Tyner is an outstanding blues player! Throughout this set (in which each tune is a winner), George Mraz(bass) and Al Foster(drums) lay a firm magical carpet while providing their own brands of sonic and rhythmic electricity. Foster listens intently and at times seems to have a particular ESP with Tyner. In paying tribute to John Coltrane, Tyner's two-handed virtousity literally welds musical ideas into the listener's consciousness and thus inspires and rewards.

I have two McCoy Tyner recordings: "Live at the Village" and "Trident", and, although both seem exceptional, "Live at the Village" just amazes me! Tyner and Co. have captured the essence of Coltrane's music in such a fresh and imaginative way. Moreover, Al Foster (one of my favorite drummers after hearing him here and on Bobby Hutcherson's "Skyline") and George Mraz offer support and empathy in what McCoy is trying to achieve in terms of mood and capturing the essence of Coltrane (which to me represents a spiritul quest through music). I bought this together with Pat Metheny Group's "Quartet" and Nicolas Payton's "Finger Painting: A Tribute to Herbie Hancock", and truely struck a mother lode of outstanding music. For me it doesn't get much better than this.

For a tribute to JC made up of his compositions, nothing could sound more unlike him - and that's okay. After all, what would be the point? Mr. Tyner has evolved as an artist, and Mr. Foster is stylistically worlds apart from Elvin Jones. Nevertheless, when I listen to these renditions, an inevitable comparison is invoked with the originals, and the element I find missing is the glue that the very unsung Jimmy Garrison provided. George Mraz just leaves me cold. He has more chops than the majority of bassists, but to me he's technically overwrought, and I strongly dislike that thin, transducer-enhanced tone. For lack of a better word, I miss a certain "organic" ingredient that I found in the original recordings.

I spontaneously bought this cd yesterday after seeing it in a local cd store. I only have one Tyner solo disc, and a bunch of other discs with him (such as old Coltrane albums).

McCoy Tyner does a great job of adapting Coltrane's sometimes off-the-wall playing into his own style of "controlled agression" piano playing (term not copywrited yet by yours truly). While Tyner has mellowed a bit in the past couple of decades, his playing is still as potent as ever. And what better way to showcase his talent then by adapting Coltrane sax classics into his own style?

I think this disc falls just a shade short of being brilliant. It's good for what it is. Coltrane covers, but just a little bit away from being truly inspired and jaw dropping.

If you are a Coltrane fan, or a Tyner fan, or both, you will enjoy this release.

Among all my Jazz-CD's - and there are many of them - this is by far the worst and disappointing one. And yet it is quite revealing. Many Jazz fans and critical reviewers celebrate Tyner as the best Jazz pianist alive. Although I have a huge respect for the musical quality of most Jazz, this shows me that the classic listeners and reviewers are musically just more educated and sophisticated than those in Jazz. Yes, there might be no Jazz pianist in history which has been more virtous than Tyner, and none which is technically better.

But as any classical educated piano professor will tell you, virtuosity makes no good pianist. And thats totally the case for Tyner. If I listen to his recordings, its always the same - huge accord clusterings, incredible fast playing, but no feel for the music, no elegance whatsoever and no interesting development or experimenting. His solos are really boring.

Just listen to Naima, one of the greatest pieces in Jazz. Start with the original Coltrane recording, the wonderful piano in it (NOT Tyner!), the feel for the music. Then listen to Breckers solo on the 2003 Directions in Music recording, playing an incredible interpretation of it, and then go to Tyners interpretation. Imagine how Bill Evans would play it. Then you have to stop this CD after 2 minutes. Its just terrible. Large parts he plays in fortissimo, with his usual style. I can't believe how bad it is. The same is true for Crescent and all the other pieces.

Or listen to "After the rain". That is pure pop-kitsch at worst, with accords and harmonics I would expect on a MTV-music award show, but not on a Jazz-CD. Even Norah Jones is pure experimentation against it!

The question then remains: Why was he part of one of the greatest Jazz-quartets? I went back to all Coltrane CD's including him. I can only say he was at the right place at the right time. His playing really does fit to Coltrane, all the fury, the virtuosity, the aggresive improvisation over one scale, but without Coltrane, he is just bad and totally lost. And indeed, the worst Coltrane pieces are those where Tyner has an extended solo, such as in "Afro-Blue" on "One up, one down". There you hear all his strict limitations in terms of harmony and developing an interesting solo.