MUSIC

Award-winning jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, known for his blues-based piano style whose harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists, brings his quartet to Tufts. Since the late 1950s, when he joined legendary saxophonist John Coltrane to form the latter’s seminal quartet, Tyner has enjoyed an international reputation as the creator of one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. He has always expanded his vision of the musical landscape and incorporated new elements, whether from distant continents or diverse musical influences. More recently he has arranged for big bands, employed string arrangements, and even reinterpreted popular music. Today, Tyner has released nearly 80 albums under his name, earned four Grammys, and was awarded Jazz Master from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He continues to leave his mark on generations of improvisers, and yet remains a disarmingly modest and spiritually directed man. Tyner's band features Gary Bartz on saxophone, Gerald Cannon on bass, and Francisco Mela on drums.