McCoy Tyner leaves us (aged 81)
So many of his albums have this unusual feel, an indefinable energy to them, but then you remember he emerged from the John Coltrane world of musicians.
I had the rare privilege to meet him and have a chat about music, life, noise, Coltrane, etc., at Yoshi's in Oakland sometime in the early 1990s, after his second set.
He had a very quiet and open demeanor, one of those people always excited to talk about music. McCoy explained to me (and demonstrated for me) the basics of the so-called "block of notes" technique that he mentioned from time to time in the interviews. It felt strange to be sitting next to him on the piano bench, but it was a music lesson and my jaw was probably on the floor for a second or two in disbelief. A soft-spoken interesting guy, like Bill Nelson.
He also had cool cover art on many of his solo albums.
Alfred McCoy Tyner (11 December, 1938 – 6 March, 2020)
