Although nonetheless solely 29 years outdated when he recorded Expansions for Blue Be aware Information at Van Gelder Studio, on Friday, August 23, 1968, Philadelphia pianist McCoy Tyner was nonetheless a seasoned and extremely skilled musician.
Tyner’s skilled profession started when he was simply 15, enjoying in native R&B bands, however he quickly outgrew them. Mentored by famous bebop pianist Bud Powell, who was a neighbor, the younger Tyner quickly blossomed into a serious jazz expertise. He first got here onto the radar of the broader jazz public after he performed in Benny Golson and Artwork Farmer’s groundbreaking band, The Jazztet, in 1959.
A yr later, Tyner, then simply 21, was recruited by rising star John Coltrane and, as a part of the saxophonist’s well-known quartet over the following 5 years, he would assist to form the course of jazz historical past through traditional albums resembling My Favourite Issues, “Live” At The Village Vanguard and A Love Supreme.
Tyner’s solo profession started whereas he was nonetheless with Coltrane and, in a fertile interval between 1962 and 1964, he launched six albums for the Impulse! label. After he left Coltrane, in 1965, Tyner had a few fallow years however ultimately landed at Blue Be aware in 1967.
Expansions was his fourth LP for the enduring jazz label and its title referenced the truth that it was Tyner’s most bold solo venture as much as that time, utilizing a bigger ensemble than was the norm, comprising seven musicians. When it comes to its personnel, Expansions actually boasted a powerful line-up. On saxophone was Wayne Shorter, then nonetheless within the Miles Davis Quintet, whereas Ron Carter was additionally “borrowed” from that group, although he performed cello on the session reasonably than his customary bass. Taking part in trumpet was one in every of Philadelphia’s rising skills, Woody Shaw, who had impressed on organist Larry Younger’s 1966 Blue Be aware LP Unity. Taking part in alto sax (and doubling on picket flute) was Baltimore musician Gary Bartz, who, later within the 70s, would go onto work with Miles Davis. Finishing the line-up was bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Freddie Waits.
Expansions’ opener, “Vision,” is a traditional slice of late 60s modal jazz. A propulsive lower, it’s pushed by Tyner’s percussive – and strongly rhythmic – piano chords. Above this jaunty ostinato sample the horn gamers harmonize a clarion-like collection of motifs, earlier than a transition right into a swinging bridge part with strolling bass. Tyner takes the primary solo, juxtaposing explosive left-hand chords with glowing and fleet-of-finger right-hand runs. Because the music simmers down, Ron Carter falls beneath the highlight with a dexterous bowed cello solo that makes use of glissandi results. He’s adopted by blazing passages of improv by the horn gamers, Wayne Shorter, Gary Bartz, and Woody Shaw, although it’s drummer Freddie Waits who has the ultimate say, with a brief solo earlier than a reprise of the principle theme.
After the frenetic opener, the shimmering “Song Of Happiness” is serene by comparability. With its use of pentatonic scales, it has a pronounced East Asian affect, maybe reflecting the truth that Tyner had visited there a yr earlier.
“Smitty’s Place” is quick and livid, that includes a collection of duels by members of the septet. The primary finds Wayne Shorter jousting with Tyner; they’re adopted by Shaw and Bartz, whose horns intertwine, after which, with the tune’s fizzing momentum dissolving with the absence of drums, Ron Carter and Herb Lewis provide a dialogue between cello and bass. Freddie Waits re-enters to arrange a musical dialog with Tyner.
Constructed on a loping, midtempo bass groove comparable in really feel to Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father” is the Latin-tinged “Peresina,” which exhibits that Tyner can play with delicacy in addition to energy and precision. Along with offering elegantly blended horn components, Shorter, Bartz, and Shaw additionally contribute fabulous particular person solos.
The album’s closing tune, a bittersweet ballad referred to as “I Thought I’d Let You Know,” is extra conventional in model and the one cowl on Expansions. It comes from the pen of Cal Massey, a Philadelphia trumpeter who was higher recognized for his songwriting skill (John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, and Archie Shepp had been among the many jazz musicians who recorded his songs).
Although it’s typically an ignored entry in McCoy Tyner’s canon – maybe as a result of it got here so quickly after his magnificent Blue Be aware debut, 1967’s The Actual McCoy – Expansions is an album that broadened the Philadelphia pianist’s musical horizons. Most of all, it highlighted his progress as a composer and arranger, and confirmed that he had emerged out of Coltrane’s shadow to seek out his personal distinctive voice and particular place throughout the jazz world.
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