McCoy Tyner - 1978 [2004] "Counterpoints"

Counterpoints: Live in Tokyo is a live album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Milestone label in 2004. It was recorded, along with Passion Dance (1978), in July 1978 at the Live Under the Sky festival in Tokyo, Japan and features performances by Tyner with Tony Williams and Ron Carter.

Although these live tracks were recorded on the same evening in 1978 as McCoy Tyner's earlier Milestone album Passion Dance, they inexplicably remained unreleased until 2004. With Tyner joined by a powerful rhythm section consisting of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, the fireworks begin with an explosive interpretation of the pianist's "The Greeting." Next are two solo piano features, including a return to Tyner's exotic "Aisha" and "Sama Layuca," the latter building upon a hypnotic vamp from Tyner's left hand as thunderous chords with occasional tremolos are played by his right hand. Tyner begins Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" with a well-disguised introduction before entering familiar territory just prior to Carter's entrance, producing an absolutely stunning interpretation. The disc wraps with the return of Williams for Tyner's "Iki Mashio (Let's Go)," another over the top work comparable to the pianist's "Passion Dance," with an interlude featuring a quiet but intricate solo by Carter. Even with Tyner's fierce attack at the keyboard and his heavy use of the sustain pedal at times, the sound is remarkably clear.

Counterpoints is a 5-tune set lasting about 48 minutes taken from Tyner's "Live Under the Sky" concert in Japan, circa 1978. Milestone records seems to have unearthed this for release (or re-release) in 2004, making it a fairly new collection of older material. It's a great addition, because the 1970's were, in my opinion, the best years in Tyner's discography -- an era where his playing was at its fastest, most dense, and most muscular, with energetic contributions from some great sidemen and some outstanding records cut from various live concerts.

In terms of Tyner's 70's music, Enlightenment,Atlantis, and the Greeting are probably Tyner's best dates from this era and are the place to start. Counterpoints, perhaps as the name suggests, is something a little different. For one thing, it's billed as a trio date, featuring McCoy (thankfully sticking to piano, without any of his 70's experiments on harpsichord and the like), Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Quite a line-up, though it's a bit deceiving, because the trio's only there on 2 tunes -- "The Greeting," and "Iki Masho (Let's Go)." "Sama Layuca" and "Aisha" are Tyner solos, while "Prelude to a Kiss" is a duet with Carter. So, unlike some of the other 70's powerhouse albums, this showcases Tyner without any horns and sometimes just by himself.

The 5 tunes average about 10 minutes each (ranging 6:28 to 13:28), allowing for generous solo space and true to form, Tyner's soloing here is incredible -- almost exclusively up-tempo, full of thundering left hand chords, and with plenty of cascading right hand runs with trademark Tyner trills. "The Greeting" is a great opener, though some of the space gets devoted to (wasted on?) bass and drum solos and the version on the album, the Greeting, is superior. "Aisha" is a Tyner original taken from Coltrane's 1962 album Ole Coltrane, and it's kind of a sister tune to the well-tread "Naima" -- essentially a ballad, but played with such fullness and density such that there's nothing slow or quiet about it. "Sama Luyuca" then follows back-to-back, though while the main melody is different, it's to some extent a continuation of what you're hearing in "Aisha." Carter's backing on "Prelude" adds a great texture to the duet, and is the closest thing to a true ballad on the album. Then the trio returns on "Iki Masho" -- with a long and quiet Carter solo sandwiched in the middle -- to bring things to a close.

While this is an excellent and well-recorded live date from Tyner's peak, if there's a criticism to be made, it's that there's a certain sameness to his soloing on these numbers that is perhaps accentuated without more accompaniment (and by the fact that I listened to this album something like 5 times before writing this review). If you really want to hear Tyner alone, you should probably pick up Echoes of a Friend first, or one of his more recent solo albums (At The Warsaw Jazz Jamboree is pretty good). Personally, I miss the propulsiveness that a drummer adds to Tyner's soloing, so if it's the trio work with Carter and Williams that's got you interested in Counterpoints as it did me, I'd suggest getting Supertrios first -- a studio date from a year before featuring the same trio as here on half the numbers (including a repeat of "The Greeting" and "Prelude to a Kiss"), and a lot more total music. So maybe Counterpoints isn't quite the place to start, but it's a solid concert that does allow you to hear Tyner in top form in a variety of contexts -- solo, duet, and trio.

This is one of my favorite McCoy Tyner albums. It is a perfect example of his 70's style. The recording is from 1978, and it consists of a trio with Ron Carter and Tony Williams. McCoy has never sounded more forceful and aggressive than on these recordings. In the 70's, pianists like Keith Jarrett were working in the Bill Evans mold of quiet, mellow and classical-influenced playing. Howevever, McCoy Tyner was contemporaneously moving in the opposite direction and pounding away on the piano like a madman, but always with perfect precision. His playing here makes his 60's Blue Note and Impulse recordings sound restrained. That may put some fans off, and recently, he has been using more dynamics in his approach, moving between placid and aggressive within the context of the same piece. However, this recording is full-steam-ahead throughout, and Ron Carter and Tony Williams support him like few others could.

Track listing

    "The Greeting" - 11:30
    "Aisha" - 7:08
    "Sama Layuca" - 6:38
    "Prelude to a Kiss" (Ellington, Gordon, Mills) - 9:20
    "Iki Masho (Let's Go)" - 13:58

    All compositions by McCoy Tyner except as indicated

    Recorded at "Live Under The Sky", Denen Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 1978

Personnel

    McCoy Tyner: piano
    Ron Carter: bass (tracks 1, 4 & 5)
    Tony Williams: drums