McCoy Tyner
Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938 – March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards.[1] He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy award winner. Unlike many of the jazz keyboardists of his generation, Tyner very rarely incorporated electric keyboards or synthesizers into his work. Tyner has been widely imitated, and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time.[2]
McCoy Tyner
Alfred McCoy Tyner
December 11, 1938
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
March 6, 2020 (aged 81)
Bergenfield, New Jersey, U.S.
- Musician
- composer
Piano
1960–2020
Jarvis Tyner (brother)
Early life and education[edit]
Tyner was born on December 11, 1938,[3][4] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three children of Jarvis and Beatrice (née Stevenson) Tyner.[5] His younger brother Jarvis Tyner was the executive vice-chairman of the Communist Party USA.[6] Tyner was encouraged to study piano by his mother, who had installed a piano at her beauty salon.
Tyner began piano lessons at age 13 at Granoff School of Music, where he had also studied music theory and harmony, and music became the focal point of his life within two years.[7][8] Tyner's decision to study piano was reinforced when he encountered the bebop pianist Bud Powell, a neighbor of the family's.[9] Another major influence on Tyner's playing was Thelonious Monk, whose percussive attacks would inform Tyner's signature style.[4] During his teens he led his own group, the Houserockers.[10]
When he was 17, he converted to Ahmadiyya and changed his name to Suleiman Saud.[11][12]
Death[edit]
On March 6, 2020, Tyner died at his home, at Bergenfield, New Jersey, at the age of 81.[30][2] A cause of death was not given, but he had been in ill health.[32]
Influence and playing style[edit]
Tyner is considered to be one of the most influential jazz pianists of the late 20th century, an honor he earned during and after his time with Coltrane.[33]
Tyner, who was left-handed, played with a low bass left hand and he raised his arm high above the keyboard for an emphatic attack. His right-hand soloing was detached and staccato. His melodic vocabulary was rich, ranging from raw blues to complex superimposed pentatonic scales; his approach to chord voicing (most characteristically by fourths) influenced contemporary jazz pianists, such as Chick Corea.[34] Some of his harmonic modal techniques have been connected to Claude Debussy's piano repertory.[35]
Bob Weir, rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead, has listed Tyner as an influence on his playing.[36]
Awards and honors[edit]
Tyner was named a 2002 NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.[7] He won five Grammy Awards: for The Turning Point (1992) and Journey (1993) and best instrumental jazz album for Illuminations (2004), Infinity (1995), and Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane (1987).[37]
Tyner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music at the Sala dei Notari during the Umbria Jazz Festival.[38] Tyner was a judge for the 6th, 10th[39] and 11th annual Independent Music Awards.[40]
