The Distinctive Jazz Piano Styles of McCoy Tyner By Duane Shinn Expert Author Duane Shinn Alfred McCoy Tyrner, better known by the last two words of his full name - McCoy Tyner, was both on the 11th of December, 1938. His mother pushed him towards his love for the piano, by sending him for piano classes when he was 13 years old. The piano classes got him hooked to the instrument in a couple of years by the time he turned 15. His early inspiration came from the playing of Bud Powell with whom he was neighbors. His playing was distinguished from the other sounds that people have drawn out of the piano. He had a very distinctive way of playing the bass notes with his left hand, which he positioned higher than the normal posture of piano playing allowed him to so that he could lay heavy emphasis on the notes that he played with that hand.
His right hand's style of playing too had a similar catch -the staccatos and arpeggios that he played with his right hand contributed to this unique sound of playing. These two factors and his method of chord voicing, which has a heavy usage of fourth notes, set him apart from many jazz pianists during his career of 46 and running years. He got his first steady gig with Jazztet in 1960 in which he played with Benny Golson. He left that group the same year and joined John Coltrane's group. But this was not the first time that he was associated with Coltrane. He and Coltrane both played together earlier on McCoys's original composition - The Believer. He was a part of the group's release - My Favorite Things. The following four years, he toured with the John Coltrane Quartet which featured Coltrane himself on tenor saxophone, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on the drums in addition to McCoy himself in piano.
The band had a lot of success and has a number of releases which did very well including Ballads, Life at The Village Vanguard, Crescent, The Jon Coltrane Quartet Plays, and Live at Birdland which they recorded for Impulse! Records. Apart from playing for the John Coltrane Quartet, he also has a solo career on with a number of piano trio releases under the same label - the first of which was the 1962 release Inception. He was sideman on quite a few albums under the Blue Note Records. After leaving the John Coltrane Quartet, he had a three year stint with Blue Note Records for whom he recorded a number of post bop albums - The Real McCoy, Tender Moments, Expansions and Extensions - during the four years (67' - 70') that he was with Blue Note. His next label was Milestone Records with whom he recorded a number of albums that he recorded with flute player Hubert Laws and Billy Colham on the drums. Some of their albums that this period of recording produced were Sahara, Enlightenment and Fly With The Wind. The shift in music that he made was a very obvious to the ear move to include music influenced by African and Asian forms of music in his compositions.
This warranted for a wider variety of instruments that McCoy used and which he played himself - the koto (a 13th Japanese string instrument), the flute and percussion. This was one of the first movements in jazz music to move towards a new freer form. This was not categorized as free jazz or fusion jazz. It was something else in the making. One of McCoy's 1975 releases had him play two other instruments that were used very rarely in jazz music to date - the harpsichord and the celeste. The 80's and the 90's saw him touring and recording extensively with bass player Avery Sharpe and Aaron Scott who played the drums. He had an extended run with Blue Note Records for which he recorded more albums for in the late 80's and early 90's. McCoy is still active recording and touring with different musicians recording for Telarc Records. He was made a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He has had two releases in 2007 - Quarter and Afro Blue. A free email newsletter on exciting piano chords and chord progressions from Duane Shinn is available free at "Piano Courses" Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duane_Shinn
The Art of Jazz Music By Gareth L Jazz music is a very popular form of music, this form of music has been a popular genre since the early 20th century, mostly present and evident in African American neighborhoods and then spread across America and Europe. Jazz has always influenced popular, more mainstream music, over the years it has gone through many evolutions, producing many different sub genres as time has gone on. Jazz is also influenced by the different cultures and regions it is brought into, with each culture adding its' own distinct twist on the genre.
This has created many distinctive and different styles in jazz culture. It's hard to define the starting point of the jazz music genre, as there are so many different sub genres and cultures that have involved themselves in jazz music. It's also very difficult to actually define jazz, and put some kind of label on it's traits and characteristics, as it has become so widely varied. One huge element of jazz music is definitely improvisation - playing around, rarely playing the same song or melody more than once, not having particular notes or keys to follow and experimenting with the music, which is a huge part of jazz's liberal, free feel.
Early jazz movements also had a kind of call-and-response pattern, in which some players would play a note, only to have other people playing different instruments play the same thing, and so on it would go, making the genre a little bit competitive during live performances. Many early jazz musicians did not even know how to play music. However, this is certainly not to say that jazz players are not talented - they certainly are very talented, often more than classical performers. They often instead learn notes by ear. Some trace the jazz music genre back to the late 18th century, when African slaves were first brought over to the United States. They would sing, chant or improvise the creation of song and instruments while they were forced to work in the slave trade.
This is where jazz's call-and-response characteristic is from, it became a form of entertainment for the slaves. With the end of slavery, jazz music began to develop even more, as African-Americans were finally treated as people and were entitled to education. They began to perform early forms of jazz music as entertainment in nightclubs and other venues. 'Ragtime' was one of the first established sub genres of jazz, which became popular around this time, along with the rise of blues music. Jazz was especially popular in the South during this time, particularly New Orleans, where a lot of jazz music was developed and a lot of famous and influential jazz musicians first became recognized and known.
Throughout the early 1900s' jazz began to blossom and grow, as musicians played around more with the genre and its' possibilities. This included sub genres such as swing, gypsy jazz and European styles of jazz.Since this time, jazz has become a major influence and is even partially responsible for the invention and creation of other genres. It's amazing to see how music has evolved. G.L writes regularly about music and related topics and is currently working on a new exciting project for Earcandy Music which offer the finest wedding bands and function bands in the industry.
Jazz Music Through the Ages By Shaun Barrowes Although the dictionary describes jazz as an American musical art form which originated in African American communities, there are no words to describe the sound jazz has carried through the ages. The invisible line of racial segregation in the early 1900's made it hard for newly freed African Americans to find work. Black citizens were forced to take jobs as entertainers in bars, brothels, dances and clubs. As fate would have it though, jazz music was born from the new sound of ragtime music these musicians came up with. The sound caught on like a wild fire and intrigued the likes of Scott Joplin and Claude Debussy.
Jazz aficionados mostly attribute the city of New Orleans to the music's roots. Through music played at local brothels as well as the sounds of marching bands in funeral processions, jazz caught its intriguing beat. In the 1920's and 1930's, the Jazz Age made its grand entrance. A man with a voice of gold named Louis Armstrong formed his band during this time. One of jazz music's' greatest composers, George Gershwin took the world by storm with his beautiful "Rhapsody in Blue." All over the country, jazz music was looked at in different lights, ranging from enlightening to immoral. Swing clubs were born and America's youth put their feet to work with the new hip collective sound of jazz.
DixieLand, BeBop and Cool Jazz emerged in the 1940's and 1950's. The sweet melodies of Miles Davis lit up the room and took jazz music to a whole new level. Never disappointing, jazz kept up its reputation and produced a whole new genre of music including Latin Jazz and Soul Jazz in the 1960's and 1970's. The last 2 decades have brought about many exciting yet straightforward forms of jazz. This beloved music art form has inspired many a singer and songwriter.
To hear a jazz song is to see inside an artists' soul. The richly diverse takes on jazz throughout the last century have helped to shape not only a culture but a way of life. In this article, the author Jeni Stevens writes about the jazz music. In the 1920's and 1930's, the Jazz Age made its grand entrance and jazz music has inspired from many singer songwriter and hot adult contemporary artists. More information is avail on http://www.shaunbarrowes.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shaun_Barrowes
