Customer Reviews

Supertrios

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

 

 

This is an astounding record. It is the best McCoy Tyner stuff I've heard, and it is actually quite hard to get hold of, so it's impressive that it's stocked here and it is well worth the price. The two different trio line-ups both allow Tyner's incredible energy and power to come through, and they all stimulate remarkable invention. The real revelation to me though was the bass playing of Eddie Gomez, who I now consider to be highly under-rated. So there's plenty of surprises on this record, all of them good ones.

By the time I bought this album about a year and a half ago, I already owned about 10 McCoy Tyner CDs. "Supertrios" quickly became one of my 2 or 3 favorite out of those. I played the first track, "Wave," for a friend who was impressed enough to buy his own copy shortly afterward. This friend later told me that he's not always in the mood for this album, because as he put it, "There's so much going on...so many notes, so much piano! It's a little too much at times."

So much piano indeed. For me, the power of Tyner's piano on this recording is one of its great strengths. Tyner was on fire during these sessions--his playing is especially robust, especially focused, and he moves from hard groove-oriented playing to excursions of freer playing (with his trademark right-hand flurries of notes). Another pleasure of this album is the way Tyner's piano is presented sonically in the recording. The production gives Tyner's piano a huge, rich sound--you might say the piano sounds "larger than life." This kind of engineering may not appeal to all listeners, but for me it certainly adds to the visceral excitement of the music. (And of course McCoy's playing stands up to such exposure).

For this recording, Tyner is presented as a member of 2 trios: he plays with Ron Carter and Tony Williams on the first half, and Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette on the second half. McCoy was certainly spurred on by the focus and enthusiasm of his bandmates during these recordings. It is beside the point to argue which trio setting works more effectively--the point is the contrasts (some obvious, some subtle) between the two trios, and the fact that both sound great.

Listeners familiar with Tyner's more Coltrane-influenced recordings will find this album a satisfying change. But all fans of Tyner's music should have this outstanding album. Too much piano?.....no, not for me.

This is McCoy at his best. He was playing with total inspiration and high energy. The selections with Ron Carter and Tony Williams are among his best ever. For example, "Moment's Notice" is quite listenable and enjoyable but also very heavy in terms of musical content. Exciting, rewarding music which reveals more on repeated listenings.

Buy the album. The price is worth it. If you love McCoy's style of playing, then you will absolutely love this album. However, this is a terrific joy to listen to period. Both of the trio settings featured on this album form cohesive, tight units.

I've owned this on vinyl the year it came out, on CD, and now as a download; it remains as wonderful as it was more than three decades ago. The Gomez-DeJohnette tunes are slightly overshadowed by the Carter/Tony Williams cuts, but only because Ron and Tony are absolute killers on this record; IMHO, this may be the best work that TW did in that decade. Particularly wonderful is the reading of Jobim's "Wave", which bears the same relationship to most placid bossa nova readings of the tune (including Jobim's original) as being caught on the crest of a icy 30 foot Pacific storm wave off Half-Moon Bay does to relaxing with your toes in the water on the beach in Rio: it STARTS intense, loud and fast (the sample above is from the very start of the tune, before McCoy even gets to a theme statement) and then gets more so. They relent for half a chorus here and there, and then McCoy's left hand slams down again and all three lean into the storm. "Moment's Notice" and "I Mean You" get the same treatment.

None of this should detract from Eddie Gomez' and Jack DeJohnette's wonderful second half, but it's more subdued playing, and what an act to have to follow. . .

The sound is crackling fresh on the piano, though I think I'm hearing some "the dreaded bass direct" in Ron Carter's bass mix. The drum sound is clean and well-defined; I think I could probably tell Jack from Tony on this recording if you gave me only an isolated snippet of ride cymbal from each, their sounds are so distinct on this package.