Song For My Lady - McCoy Tyner

Jul

27

Song For My Lady - McCoy Tyner

≡ Category: 1970s, Highly Recommended, Music Reviews, Post Bop |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:

Ho hum, another excellent album from McCoy Tyner on the Milestone label (reissued on Original Jazz Classics). Tyner’s years with Milestone yielded any number of superior releases, and Song For My Lady is no exception.

The problem for Tyner at this point was to find bandmates who could match him in terms of power and personality. Alphonse Mouzon is nothing if not a powerful drummer, bashing away on the cymbals to emphasize the percussive comping of Tyner, but he’s not Elvin Jones either. Other drummers, such as Eric Gravatt and the little-recorded Sonship, would prove to even better foils. By the same token, Calvin Hill is no slouch in the bass chair either, but Tyner would have to wait until 1976’s Focal Point to find the perfect bassist for his music, Charles Fambrough.

Sonny Fortune, however, registers very strongly on soprano sax, also sax and flute. He threatens to set the cd player on fire during Song For My Lady, an ode to Tyner’s companion. I don’t know if I would be altogether pleased if I were Tyner’s lady friend. She sounds pretty fierce. Seriously though, Song For My Lady has an attractive theme. It’s based on extensions of a minor mode with the end of the signature phrase resolving into a trill over an augmented 7th chord a half step below.

Another reason to lay out the bucks to get still another McCoy Tyner Milestone release is his cover of The Night Has A Thousand Eyes. McCoy Tyner albums tend to be somewhat brooding, but The Night Has A Thousand Eyes is an explosion of pure joy. Tyner enhances the tune with a modified latin beat, alternating with more traditional swing. Tyner keeps the mood light, with sparkling quicksilver runs that explode out of the speakers. Bassist Calvin Hill can take a bow for his performance on the track. He swings like a mother*&^%$ on the walking basslines and makes you want to dance on the Latin sections.

After A Silent Tear, a heartfelt piano solo that sounds like a wounded bear lumbering through the woods, leaving a wake of ripped out saplings, the band tears into the last track, the modal, bop flavored Essence. Guest Charles Tolliver on flugelhorn amazingly manages to keep up with Tyner, spitting out blistering phrases. The raw aggression of this track is overwhelming.

After listening to Song For My Lady straight through, you may need a few minutes of silence to recharge your batteries.