Generations of Jazz:McCoy Tyner Trio with special guest opener, Jonathan Batiste

McCoy Tyners blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand, has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists. Born in 1938 in Philadelphia, Tyner became a part of the fertile jazz and R&B scene of the early 50s. At 17, he began a career-changing relationship with Miles Davis sideman John Coltrane. Tyner joined Coltrane for the classic album My Favorite Things (1960) and remained at the core of what became one of the most seminal groups in jazz history, The John Coltrane Quartet. Tyner performed on Coltranes classic recordings such as Live at the Village Vanguard, Impressions, and Coltranes signature suite, A Love Supreme. In 1965, Tyner left Coltranes group to explore his destiny as a composer and bandleader. Among his major projects were the 1967 album The Real McCoy and the 1972 Grammy Award-nominated release Sahara. In the 1980s, he arranged his lavishly textured harmonies for a big band and focused on his piano trio, featuring Avery Sharpe and Aaron Scott. Tyner returned to the Impulse record label in 1995 with a superb album featuring Michael Brecker. In 1996 he recorded a special album featuring the music of Burt Bacharach. He changed labels again in 1998 and recorded both an interesting Latin album and an album featuring Stanley Clarke for Telarc. In the summer of 2005, Tyner joined forces with the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and became the first client of Blue Note Management. That summer, Tyner began work on some unique projects, including performances with tap dancer Savion Glover and the development of the Impulse Septet, featuring his trio with some of todays top horn men. In 2007, Tyners partnership with the Blue Note led to the formation of his own record label, McCoy Tyner Music. His first release on the label, titled Quartet, demonstrated that Tyner, who now carries the torch as the only surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet, was and is still at the top of his game as a composer, performer, and bandleader. Tyners second release for the McCoy Tyner Music label, titled Guitars, was released in 2008. The recording features the stellar rhythm section of Tyner, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette, with four of todays most outstanding modern guitarists (and one banjoist): Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Derek Trucks, and Bela Fleck. Tyner has always expanded his vision of the musical landscape and incorporated new elements - he has recently arranged for big bands, employed string arrangements, and even reinterpreted popular music. To date, he has released nearly 80 albums under his name, earned four Grammy Awards, and was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He continues to leave his mark on generations of improvisers, and yet he remains a disarmingly modest and spiritually directed man.