出生自费城的麦考伊泰纳被誉为30年来最具影响力的爵士钢琴家,其别具一格的击奏手法,时而活泼有力,时而浪漫感人,如流水捐捐。麦考伊泰纳是家中的长子,母亲鼓励他学好钢琴,13岁开始接触钢琴,从此音乐成为他生活的重心。17岁时在一家名叫Red Rooster的俱乐部演奏时,第一次见到John Coltrane。1959年加入小喇叭手 Art Farmer的乐团。到了1960年Coltrane离开Miles Davis后,找上McCoy Tyner而组成四重奏,他们为调式爵士乐做了美好的定义。1965年离开Coltrane之后,他努力了一段时间才渐渐有更多乐迷的支持。 1972年和Milestone唱片公司签约,也录了许多精采的专辑。像是专辑Sahara获得葛来美奖提名,也获得Down Beat杂誌的年度最佳专辑。1976年领导了一个最佳的组合,团员有Gary Bartz、Joe Ford和Ron Bridgewater。
by Scott Yanow
It is to McCoy Tyners great credit that his career after John Coltrane has been far from anti-climatic. Along with Bill Evans, Tyner has been the most influential pianist in jazz of the past 50 years, with his chord voicings being adopted and utilized by virtually every younger pianist. A powerful virtuoso and a true original (compare his playing in the early 60s with anyone else from the time), Tyner (like Thelonious Monk) has not altered his style all that much from his early days but he has continued to grow and become even stronger.
Tyner grew up in Philadelphia, where Bud Powell and Richie Powell were neighbors. As a teenager he gigged locally and met John Coltrane. He made his recording debut with the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, but after six months left the group to join Coltrane in what (with bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones) would become the classic quartet. Few other pianists of the period had both the power and the complementary open-minded style to inspire Coltrane, but Tyner was never overshadowed by the innovative saxophonist. During the Coltrane years (1960-1965), the pianist also led his own record dates for Impulse.
After leaving Coltrane, Tyner struggled for a period, working as a sideman (with Ike and Tina Turner, amazingly) and leading his own small groups; his recordings were consistently stimulating even during the lean years. After he signed with Milestone in 1972, Tyner began to finally be recognized as one of the greats, and he has never been short of work since. Although there have been occasional departures (such as a 1978 all-star quartet tour with Sonny Rollins and duo recordings with Stephane Grappelli), Tyner has mostly played with his own groups since the 70s, which have ranged from a quartet with Azar Lawrence and a big band to his trio. In the 80s and 90s, Tyner did the rounds of labels (his old homes Blue Note and Impulse! as well as Verve, Enja, and Milestone) before settling in with Telarc in the late 90s and releasing a fine series of albums including 2000s Jazz Roots: McCoy Tyner Honors Jazz Piano Legends of the 20th Century and 2004s Illuminations. In 2007, Tyner returned with the studio album McCoy Tyner Quartet featuring saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Jeff Tain Watts.