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As the audience sat down to listen to the McCoy Tyner Trio
Saturday night they were told to sit back and fasten their seat-belts for
a "slick, high-energy" ride. The Trio gave nothing less.Audience
members shook their heads with the beat and in awe
as the three men, McCoy Tyner, pianist; Avery Sharpe, bass; and Aaron
Scott, drummer brought down the house. The three incorporated a range of
jazz techniques
throughout the performance from down and dirty jazz to ballad.Tyner is
a renowned contemporary acoustic pianist and composer.
In each of the songs performed, both with the Trio and solo, Tyner's
fingers effortlessly danced over the piano keys. In the second song, "My
Romance," Tyner seemed to tell a story with his fingers; just as a story
has a climax and a resolution, his performance crescendoed to a climax
and
glided to a resolution.Sharpe
plucked a walking bass for much of the accompaniment, but
during his solo breaks he strayed and played the bass with a bow as well
as incorporating other jazz techniques. Scott utilized his drum set and
sticks to the maximum. In the fourth song during the drum break, he
closed
his eyes and let the music take over his hands. With the high-hat
keeping the beat, he tilted his head back and improvised.All
three men have achieved success through years of hard work and
diligence, each beginning at an early age. At the age of thirteen Tyner
began studying the
piano through the influence of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum
and was playing professionally by the age of fifteen. He has performed in
the Jazztet and in the Coltrane Quartet as well as having his own
14-piece
big band. Tyner has his roots in North Carolina, often called an
"incubation
center for jazz musicians." His parents are from eastern North Carolina
where he spent his boyhood summers picking tobacco.Sharpe
began playing piano at the age of eight and later switched to the bass.
Scott was given
his first set of drums when he was nine and "drove everyone crazy ... The
rest is history."The Trio
has traveled throughout the United States and Europe. After the jazz
festival, the band heads to Japan seeking to please old fans and
exhilarate new ones. Article by Amanda Barnett
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