Tutorial In The McCoy Tyner Style...

Mat

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Thank you for posting, Corno Dolce.

Those videos are awesome.

:tiphat:
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Mat,

I'm glad you enjoyed the vids. McCoy Tyner is causing me to rethink jazz pianism. As you know Keith Jarrett has and will always be a source of jazz playing inspiration for me but McCoy Tyner forces me to recast my jazz piano thinking - basically what I'm attempting to do is to meld the Jarrett and Tyner styles into a coherent whole.

Man, I'm struggling but am noticing some subtle changes in my playing. For most of my life I have not looked upon the piano as a percussion instrument but as a stringed instrument wherein I *draw out the sound* I want. With Maestro Tyner's help I'm now also viewing the piano as a huge drum set and adopting his from-the-shoulder hand-pounces onto the keyboard. Yes, now my concert grand roars like Aslan the Lion and my Rachmaninoff is deadly percussive, almost volcanically so.

I'll probably get seriously chided by Rachmaninoff purists - oh well...Its the next phase in my keyboard development :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

Cheers,

CD :):):)
 

Mat

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You're right. And I must admit - I used to listen to Tyner's music *from time to time* but it never occured to me how great pianist he is. I rather paid more attention to other pianist like (no particular order) Bill Evans, Michel Camilo, Oscar Peterson or Dave Brubeck.Those vids just seem to have opened my eyes to his music. Thnx for the suggestion.

Tell me Corno, do you play jazz or do you focus only on classical music?
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hello Mat,

My focus remains classical but I am also delving into jazz piano performance thanks to inspiration by McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett. If you can get a hold of the cd entitled *McCoy Tyner plays John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard* listen then to track #3. On the cd it says *Crescent* but when I downloaded it onto my ipod, the itunes title shows up as *Broke Down Piece Of Man*.

Its probably a printing error(the *Crescent* title) and someone forgot to proofread the galleys before they went to press. Anyway, it is one of my most fave tracks in all of McCoy Tyner's output. McCoy's sound is so thick and chordal to the max and the way he voices the chords brings out harmonic textures that just dazzle mind.

Cheers,

CD :):):)

ps. Brother Mat - I too have listened very much to those very same pianists as you mention plus Bud Powell - Powell has that *hammering style* that McCoy incorporated into his own playing style. McCoy however, brings it up to a whole other level - like the *Sledgehammer of Thor*.

pps. I really can't understand why our MIMF colleague CT64 doesn't enjoy jazz - Hopefully he will one day come around to embrace jazz as a great art form. He should begin with Keith Jarrett or McCoy Tyner in a trio setting.
 
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Mat

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It's great to know that you have interest also in playing jazz. Did you learn all by yourself ?

Thanks for the advice on Tyner's performance. I will sure look that one up. Can't say too much about his style yet, but I hope to get some of his recordings soon, so I can take the measure of him.

So - as would our dear Intet say - it seems like we are "pretty much on the same shelf around jazz" :). Although, among all those names I forgot about Chick Corea. I learned a lot from his playing. I've written down one of his solos on Sophisticated Lady. Pure gold, IMO. It lasts two and a half minutes but it took me a few hours to write it down. But it was totally worth it. There's this one CD that is simply an essence of his style for me. Unfortunately, I don't have the title. As soon as I get it I will let you know.

Yes, too bad CT64 haven't realised yet how stunnig jazz music is. But give him some time. I'm sure he will find the right way soon:grin::grin::grin:
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Br. Mat,

Yes, Chick Corea is an artist whose music style I have followed quite a few years.

Yes again, I'm pretty much self-learned when it comes to jazz piano playing - alot yet to learn but coming along nicely. I'll listen to McCoy's playing through my midi system and play along; sorta like a two-piano duet.

Cheers,

CD :):):)

ps. Aha, so you're transcribing Chick Corea's music - Hey, thats a good way to learn a piece. I should do that with McCoy's style of piano works and improvs; although his very unique chord voicings make that a challenge for mere jazz mortals like myself.
 
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Mat

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Well, not only Corea's music. It's like when I hear something worthful I sit in front my piano and begin to write. Sometimes it is a challenge but it's worth it. I think that this way I can learn a lot, do some analysis. I could buy such thing (solos & analysis) but it is all very expensive. So I'd rather did it myslef. :)
 

Jazz_Keys

New member
McCoy Tyner Tutorials

Thanks Corno Dolce for the link from this forum to my YouTube tutorials. Trying to blend McCoy and Keith is quite a challenge. I find that I also have tried to blend the styles of some of my favorite pianists and musical influences when I perform, and hopefully it comes out sounding unique to me and not too much like any one particular player. I do sometimes like to "channel" one player in particular and play a whole piece in that style as I did for the McCoy tutorials.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Aloha Jazz_Keys,

What an honor and a privilege to have you on board MIMF - Welcome dear sir, please do make yourself feel right at home and stay for a spell. Of course, MIMF isn't a Jazz forum like *All About Jazz* - there are a few of us who really dig Jazz as listeners and as performers.

We try to reach out and share the wonderful gift of Jazz which transcends time and space. I am happy to have shared your YouTube links, hoping that some might experience the excitement of Jazz. That you have met *The Man McCoy* is such a coup - Frankly, I'm a bit envious of you - envy is really secret admiration.

Again, welcome to our humble and friendly forum.

Cheerio,

CD :):):)
 

Mat

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Yes, I'll second this. It's great you joined our forum, Jazz_Keys. Please do feel free to participate in any thread you like. And those videos of yours are excellent. But I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you that.;)


Take care,
Mat
 

Jazz_Keys

New member
Thanks for the warm welcome Mat and Corno -
Yes, I will try to check in from time to time. Sometimes I get too busy to check the forum but if there is an interesting thread you think I should see or you'd like to see if I want to join in on the discussion please feel free to PM me.
Regards,
Jazz_Keys
 

methodistgirl

New member
I've played ragtime which is another type of jazz piano but I don't know
if I could handle that style or not. It looks hard but interesting.
judy tooley:cool:
 

Jazz_Keys

New member
Yes, I find McCoy's solo performances to be amazing. His internal time-keeping is great - which is one aspect of solo playing I find quite difficult.

With Maestro Tyner's help I'm now also viewing the piano as a huge drum set...
I started my musical career as a drummer, so this style of playing is a good fit for me.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Aloha Jazz_Keys,

Yeah, I hear ya about internal time keeping. I had to struggle mightily with that aspect myself. Thanx for the great link - I'm listening to it now.

Cheerio,

CD :):):)
 

John Watt

Member
McCoy Tyner: Atlantis tour: El Mocambo: Toronto.

When I heard McCoy Tyner was playing in Toronto, over 100 miles away, I phoned to make reservations. I played a Strat and Marshall, but I had 10 McCoy Tyner and 15 Elvin Jones albums. I jammed along to them, always feeling live, never memorizing anything. I had to see him. I brought my girlfriend, bassist and drummer, saying if we didn't take time off I would quit, being rude this one time. I owned the truck and P.A. We were highway hairblown and unkempt, fifteen feet away and I could see the keyboard. You could see all the conservatory types and jazz cats, the whole room almost white shirts, black pants, ties and jackets, around 200 people. After the band took the stage, wearing dashikis and looking afro, they were introduced and started to play.

McCoy had a little stringed box he started picking and strumming, and the whole room got quiet to listen, the band sounding tentative, getting louder. McCoy gradually withdrew this instrument from the mike and started playing piano. What can I say? They worked up a sweat right away. What was new to me was one sax player starting to bubble up a low to high riffage and the other saxist picked up the high end and kept it going like a round, and the whole band developed some swirling sound that was a sonic effect. Incredible! I was surprised the bassist was playing a Fender Jazz bass through an amplifier, but that didn't matter. They were great. They quieted down, getting silent, and I started to clap. Alone. People stared at me. McCoy was looking at me. Others started clapping and it turned into applause. After the set, McCoy turned and walked a few feet to the end of the bar and I saw the bartender pour him an orange juice. He was standing alone.

This made me smile to myself. Eating lemon and lime slices and maraschino cherries was my fruit of the day in bars, unless there was too much mix and I could get an orange or tomato juice. I went over to shake his hand and we started talking. I decided not to mention John Coltrane. He said he just finished a yearlong hiatus, living in New York driving a cab, tending the orange tree in his backyard, and was having problems breaking strings in club pianos, not hauling his piano over the border. My drummer came over just to shake his hand, and we talked for twenty minutes. He laughed when I said I could only jam along for five or six minutes before I ran out of riffs, and he said if I ever get all the way through, especially with hit pop vocals, give him a call. McCoy, I'm ready! His eye was caught, he said he had to play again and shook my hand one more time. Eyes were on me as I went back and we got very nice non-alcoholic service after that. It could have been expensive. What a generous and truly gracious man. We stayed as long as we could.

Over twenty years later, I was making a sign in another city, and visited a performance space owned by friends. A guy in a slick, shiny green suit was sitting at the end of the bar, and my friend said he was a bass player from Buffalo looking for a gig. I looked, looked, and it was Juini Booth, McCoy's bassist. I said out loud, do you know who this is? This is one of the top five bassists in the whole world. My friend said, John, is that true? I said it louder again. I went to the stage, not asking, and grabbed an acoustic guitar, and without a strap, squatted down in front of Juini and began fingerpicking a cadenza with a Gm7sus5+15. Not warmed up, running out of steam, I looked up, and the room was quiet. Juini said you don't have to play all the strings all the time, and showed me flattening two strings. He denied ever playing a Fender through an amp, but I insisted, and he remembered this rental after his bass was stolen in New York. Two months later he gave a solo performance upstairs and I visited as much as I could when he gave friends lessons.

Two years later, I got a phone call. It was Juini in Buffalo, visiting his mother, asking if I had a car and would drive him to The Toronto DesMaurier Jazz Festival, saying he'd put me on the list. I borrowed a new one. We parked and were standing on the sidewalk when we heard Juini, Juini, and a face was looking out a window in a tinted stretch Mercedes. It was Pharoah Saunders and his band. We hopped in and drove around the block a few times, looking at the crowds and uh, not breathing the city air. Pharoah was the headliner that Friday, and we went backstage for the buffet, fresh fruits and pastries and drinks. All day, every venue, Juini and I tripped around until we found ourselves sitting with Pharoah at the executive lounge where the round circle jamming went on until after four. I was asked to play twice, but I didn't even think to bring my guitar. I was offered a beautiful f-holed jazz acoustic with two humbuckers, but I'm a hard-core lefty. Aaaah! It still hurts.

McCoy Tyner. I still hear his thunder when the thunder rumbles across the night sky, and I feel his meditation after the rain. Niama, still my favorite solo piano. Beethoven, with the cloudburst in the middle of The Fifth Symphony, comes close, but McCoy didn't have pieces of paper in front of him. Passing on some of the jazz lifestyle, precious! How truly rare that enchantment is.
 
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