McCoy Tyner

Starting out playing with John Coltrane as a 17-year-old pianist, McCoy Tyner's passionate, rhythmic style stood out in the 1950s era of bebop and vibrant R&B, and he went on to play a key role in some of jazz's most important moments. As part of Coltrane's classic quartet he performed on seminal albums 'My Favourite Things' (1961), 'Impressions' (1963) and 'A Love Supreme' (1964) and led his own bands on acclaimed early records 'Inception' (1962), 'Nights of Ballads and Blues' (1963) and 'Today and Tomorrow' (1963).

The Philadelphian left Coltrane in the mid-1960s and struggled along as a backing musician for Ike & Tina Turner before finding his feet again with the landmark, African-influenced, Grammy Award-nominated 'Sahara' (1972) - regarded by most critics as his best album. Finally able to move out of the shadow of Coltrane, Tyner's style evolved into a looser, free-form fusion of sounds on 'Echoes of a Friend' (1972), 'Trident' (1975) and 'Revelations' (1988), and he was still performing regularly and wowing festival crowds well into his mid-70s.

Sadly, on 6th March 2020, McCoy Tyner died aged 81.