Born in Philadelphia on 11th December 1938, as a youth McCoy Tyner was encouraged to study piano by his mother and began lessons at age 13. Within two years music had become the focal point in his life and Tyner was playing on his neighbour's instrument, but his family soon invested in one of his own for the budding musician, following which he began hosting jam sessions at home. Among his friends were a number of other young musos who would go on to make their mark in the field of jazz, including Lee Morgan, Archie Shepp, Bobby Timmons, Reggie Workman, and most notably, fellow pianist Bud Powell and his brother Richie. McCoy later said, "Bud and Richie Powell moved into my neighbourhood. Bud was a major influence on me during my early teens. He was very dynamic." Tyner later attended the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School Of Music. Also included as part of this collection, is a rare, previously unreleased recording of a jam session undertaken by members of John Coltrane's group in Munich in 1961, led by Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet and McCoy Tyner on piano. This unique and rarely heard recording also featured Reggie Workman on bass, Mel Lewis on drums, and Coltrane himself contributed trumpet to one number. This complete 4 CD collection, containing almost five hours of music, showcases all of Tyner's work with Impulse! As a bandleader, bringing together as it does McCoy Tyner's finest early releases, during a period that the great man went from being a breakaway from John Coltrane's group, to a fully-fledged international and wildly respected jazz band-leader in his own right. This boxed set will thus serve as both welcome reminder of this sublime musician's best ever work, or as a starting point for those not yet flying the flag.
1. Inception 2. There Is No Greater Love 3. Blues for Gwen 4. Sunset 5. Effendi 6. Speak Low 7. Reaching Fourth 8. Goodbye 9. Theme for Ernie 10. Blues Back 11. Old Devil Moon 12. Have You Met Miss Jones 13. Satin Doll 14. We'll Be Together Again 15. Round Midnight 16. For Heaven's Sake 17. Star Eyes 18. Blue Monk 19. Groove Waltz 20. Days of Wine and Roses 21. Contemporary Focus 22. A Night in Tunisia 23. T 'N a Blues 24. Autumn Leaves 25. Three Flowers 26. When Sunny Gets Blue 27. Newport Romp 28. My Funny Valentine 29. All of You 30. Monk's Blues 31. Woody 'N' You 32. Duke's Place 33. Caravan 34. Solitude 35. Searchin' 36. Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool 37. Satin Doll 38. Gypsy Without a Song 39. On Green Dolphin Street 40. Softly, As in a Morning Sunshine 41. The Way You Look Tonight 42. Oleo 43. Impressions
