billbeuttler.com

The McCoy Tyner Quartet
At: Regattabar, Friday night, first set (repeats tonight)

By Bill Beuttler, Globe Correspondent, 11/10/2003

CAMBRIDGE -- Early in the first set at the Regattabar Friday night, McCoy Tyner noted that it was "a special pleasure" for him to be playing with this quartet. Judging by the pleased looks he and his bandmates were giving one another as they stretched out on several numbers from Tyner's most recent CD, "Land of Giants," he wasn't merely mouthing a cliche.

With him were Bobby Hutcherson, winner of the past four Down Beat critics polls as jazz's best vibraphonist; the inventive Charnett Moffett on bass; and the veteran sideman Al Foster on drums.

"Land of Giants" breathed new energy into the pianist's repertoire in part by reexamining a couple of key compositions from Tyner's past: the waltz "Contemplation," from his classic 1967 album "The Real McCoy," and a 1974 song stripped of woodwinds and rechristened "Manalyuca," which Tyner had called "Sama Layuca" on the album of that name. Hutcherson had played on "Sama Layuca," and adding him to Tyner's customary touring trio brought new energy as well.

Friday's opening set began with "Serra Do Mar," another Tyner composition with heavy Latin American accents. Hutcherson wielded four mallets in playing the melody with Tyner, then cut back to two for an extended solo. Tyner's face alternated between intense concentration and smiling up at Hutcherson as he accompanied him on the piano, and then Tyner took a short solo of his own, followed by Moffett.

The first tune set the tone. The emphasis was on melody and intense interplay among the musicians. Tyner's playing has gotten less stormy over the years, but he was still unmistakably McCoy -- lightning-quick runs from the right hand, thunderclap chords from the left.

Next up was "Steppin'," an up-tempo blues led off by Moffett's race-walking bass and a Hutcherson solo, followed by a few bars of unaccompanied Tyner and a minisolo by Foster.

The set climaxed with "Manalyuca." Hutcherson managed a solo both playful and sublime as he bantered with Tyner's and Foster's accents. Moffett took the second solo this time, and it was a humdinger -- along with some hellfire pizzicato runs, he twice took out his bow and used its wooden frame to thump out tones from the strings.

The quartet concluded with another up-tempo blues. "Contemplation," presumably, was being saved for the next set, but no one seemed to complain. The first set had been a pleasure just as it was.

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© Bill Beuttler