McCoy Tyner

The Highline Ballroom on West 16th Street in Manhattan is a great place to hear live music.

Onstage is a 9-foot Steinway grand piano, complemented by excellent sound and lighting. The main area was full on a sultry August night in 2009, to hear McCoy Tyner play. The audience consisted of veteran jazz fans, tourists from all over and young people out on the town.

Highline's piano series has been going on all summer,  culminating with the Cecil Taylor group on August 31st. Before the McCoy Tyner band, was an opening act: the Jon Batiste Big Band. 22-year-old Jon Batiste came onstage in a tux and a sparkly scarf, while playing the melodica on a ballad version of “Summertime.” The horns played a background line while the bassist bowed the lower strings of his instrument. After a couple of choruses, Batiste sauntered to the piano and accompanied himself while belting out the tune. His style is mixed in influence - I detected Monk, Armstrong and Ray Charles, among others. He's a talented showman, and most definitely a virtuoso.

“St. James Infirmary” was a rhythmic blues with vocals, nicely arranged by Batiste. I enjoyed the wailing tone from alto saxophonist Eddie Barbash. Mainly, the Jon Batiste Big Band was an intense feature for the pianist, showing off his amazing versatility.

McCoy Tyner’s group consisted of himself on piano; Gary Bartz on alto and soprano saxes; Gerald Cannon on bass and Eric Kamau Gravatt on drums. McCoy Tyner can still invoke magic at the piano, after many years of being a living legend. Bartz, Tyner, Cannon and Gravatt are all expert musicians, and it was a decided pleasure to hear them. On the opening number "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit," a beautiful composition by McCoy, some deep and powerful emotions were brought forth through the music. They received shouts of approval from the audience, confirming this.

“Moment's Notice,” the John Coltrane standard, started with drums in a bright tempo. Each musician was featured: first, Bartz stretched out on alto with the ease of someone who completely lives for the music, then Cannon showed he’s a master of swing and groove on the bass. Tyner cut the band completely out for the first part of his solo, going completely out of tempo, mesmerizing the audience with interesting harmonies, then brought it back up to speed and handed the reins over to Gravatt.

Altogether, it was a very exciting and interesting evening, and I’m glad to see Jazz is alive and well in a bigger setting, such as the Highline Ballroom.