Guitars CD DVD
”I’ve never done anything like this before” McCoy Tyner recently said of his second album on McCoy Tyner Music/Half Note Records, a CD/DVD titled GUITARS. Along with a trio of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, Tyner invited guitarists Bill Frisell, Derek Trucks, John Scofield, Marc Ribot, and banjoist Bela Fleck for the studio recording and DVD shoot, scheduled for a September 23 release. ”It was great, and each guy had his own concept and own sound which is very, very important on any instrument, ” said Tyner, ”You know, I look for that, the individual sound and concept. ”
Legendary producer John Snyder oversaw the project along with executive producers Jeff Levenson, VP of McCoy Tyner Muisc/Half Note Records, and Steve Bensusan, President of the Blue Note Jazz Club. Said Levenson, ”What impressed me about the project was how seamless the integration was. We have guys with disparate styles. You have guys who approach their instruments differently. The beauty of this project is how they all found common ground with McCoy. ”
The CD is accompanied by a state of the art DVD featuring songs with each special guest guitarist and bonus footage. The DVD has 3 hours of multiple-angle viewing capability. By clicking the ANGLE button on the remote or the player on a computer, one can watch the Editor s Cut on Angle 1, all four musicians at once with Angle 2 (4 quadrants), or isolate any of the musicians and watch them exclusively with Angles 3 through 6.
Tyner, who will turn 70 on December 11, is looking forward to the week-long celebration at the Blue Note in Manhattan that ends on his birthday. When asked about his recording future, Tyner thought for a time and spoke candidly. ”I think there is always something to do that you haven’t done exactly. There’s always that the idea of what else can I do, and something always comes up. No two days are the same. So we look forward to tomorrow cause that’s going to be different from yesterday and today. Hopefully it’s a good one! ”
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars This one is a winner
You never know what you’re going to get when a jazz artist brings in a series of high-profile guest artists. Some of those discs are messes, but some win you over. This one is a winner. McCoy Tyner’s resume is very extensive, but he hasn’t done much with guitarists. Along with an ace rhythm section of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, McCoy teams up with five guitarists. The five guitarists are Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Béla Fleck, Derek Trucks, and Bill Frisell. The only ’safe’ choice on that list is John Scofield. The rest are most daring than I’d expect McCoy to play with – Béla Fleck is a banjo player, not even a guitarist! You also can’t call it a meeting of the old guard with the young guns, since Ribot, Scofield, Fleck, and Frisell are all in their 50’s. Though Trucks is in his 20’s, he’s a rock/blues guitarist, so he isn’t a jazz young gun.
Marc Ribot starts things off with a fast and fun “Passion Dance”, then a bluesier “500 Miles”. Ribot and Tyner also have two improvised duets which aren’t quite as good as the quartet songs. “Mr. P. C.” sounds exactly like John Scofield from the first notes. Similar to “Passion Dance”, it’s a very good up-tempo jam. “Blues On The Corner” has a more structured melody, and Scofield again is in fine form. Béla Fleck’s three songs aren’t bad, and he’s certainly brave to take on “My Favorite Things”. Banjo is inherently a less expressive instrument than the guitar. Derek Trucks has a blues and “Greensleeves”. Since Coltrane’s version of “Greensleeves” isn’t as classic as “My Favorite Things”, it’s not too risky a choice. Trucks is pretty good – he plays expressively and a tad simpler than the full-time jazz guys. Bill Frisell plays on “Contemplation”, a McCoy Tyner song, then “Boubacar” and “Baba Drame” which were on Frisell’s “The Intercontinentals”. “Contemplation” is fine, then “Boubacar” and “Baba Drame” are hypnotic. There was no piano on “The Intercontinentals”, but Tyner’s chiming piano meshes with Frisell’s Telecaster very well. There’s a lot of focus on the guitarists, but Tyner’s piano is strong, and Carter and DeJohnette are naturally excellent.
This CD comes together very well, and it’s one of the better jazz CD’s of 2008. The CD also has a bonus DVD, with one song by each of the guests. The DVD is neat because you can show each player individually, or all players at the same time. Somehow I find it easier to catch the subtleties of jazz drumming when I can see the drummer. This CD should appeal to just about anyone, and is recommended.
5 Stars All Star Trio and Interesting Mix of Different Guitar styles
Overview:
Pianist McCoy Tyner teams up with jazz legends Ron Carter (bass) and Jack Dejohnette (drums) to form a powerful foundation in his new CD guitars. This trio is joined by 5 different special guest guitarists, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Bela Fleck, Derek Trucks and Marc Ribot. While some Tyner fans might be disappointed that McCoy deviated from his typical albums, I welcome the change. This CD is a totally unique addition to McCoy’s catalog and succeeds on many levels. The key to the success of this album is that they didn’t go and pick the 5 best jazz guitarists. Instead they picked guitarists who have diverse styles each with their own strongly defined personality. While I’m not really a fan of Bela Fleck or Dereck Trucks, including them on this album was genious. Not only do they play great, but their unique style of playing adds great diversity to the album and provides some fascinating variations to some classic tunes. John Scofield and Bill Frisell fans will love the hearing these jazz guitar legends play for the first time with McCoy Tyner. Prior to listening to this album I was not familiar with Marc Ribot. At first listen his shredding electric style of playing seemed a little bit too much. However, on further listens I have really grown to love the versions of Passion Dance and 500 Miles. Passion Dance really is a burner of a tune and Ribot’s electric assault really works. McCoy Tyner style plays with amazing dexterity and power. It is simply amazing at his age that he is still able to generate a tremendous wall of sound with his powerful left handed chords. In addition to being a great CD to listen to, a DVD is included with album that shows the group recording in the studio. It is wonderful to be able to hear the artists discuss and debate changes to the arrangements, and then to be able to see them record the music. The only knock against the DVD is at times it is hard to hear some of conversations they are having.
Song Highlights:
Mr PC – John Scofield is absolutely amazing on this classic John Coltrane tune. John plays a ripping version of the melody (usually played by a sax). McCoy has a nice piano solo as well, and when Scofield comes in towards the end of Tyner’s solo with some 2 new chords on his guitar it is just magic. Ron Carter also has a nice bass solo on this one.
Contemplation – This has always been one of my favorite Tyner tunes. The title of the song is perfect for this deeply moving and reflective song. Frisell’s style of play: the ability to play the same chord 10,000 different ways and his mastery of spacing fit perfectly into this tune.
Tradewinds – All of the tracks with Bela Fleck on this CD are unbelievable. This is coming from someone who is not a Bela Fleck fan. I would even go so far as to say that the Bela Fleck tracks are the best on the CD. Bela’s banjo playing and McCoy’s piano playing are surprisingly just the perfect fit for each. It was hard to pick the highlight of these tracks, but tradewinds was a new song to me and I love melody.
If you are a big fan of Tyner, Scofield and Frisell, like me you simply must go out and pick up this CD. Don’t worry about some of the negative reviews on this site. You will not be disappointed.
3 Stars Enjoyable performances – Audio on dvd sucks!
I enjoyed listening to the cd, quite eclectic. Nice to hear such an unusual compilation. The dvd could have been even better, perhaps great, but it’s recorded in Dolby 2.0. What the f*** was the producer thinking when they could have used PCM? Wasted opportunity to create a great sounding dvd.
4 Stars Enjoyable Performance
I have been a fan of McCoy Tyner for several years and was interested in seeing and hearing his interaction with the guitar and banjo. This was an enjoyable experience.
1 Star disapointed
Outside of one or two cuts this was a wash. Banjo is not Guitar and Rebo is not a jazz guitarist and Trucks was terrible when he has much more potential then that. Bad producer?? Someone was asleep. McCoy don’t put out many more of these please.
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