Mccoy Tyner

This album features various performances by the McCoy Tyner Big Band from 1991 to 1993. While it is by no means a "must-have" for fans, it is a nice cross-section of what the band sounds like live.

There are no weak McCoy Tyner albums and this relative obscurity is better than average. The great pianist is heard with an all-star nonet that includes Hubert Laws on flute, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Paquito d'Rivera, Chico Freeman on tenor, and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, plus a seven-piece string section. The music (five Tyner originals) is highly rhythmic and generally quite stimulating. A strong effort.

Those familiar with the dense, percussive style that pianist McCoy Tyner has cultivated since the 1970s onwards may be surprised by what they hear on Inception. Like Reaching Fourth and Nights of Ballads and Blues, this album gives listeners the chance to hear what a very young Tyner sounded like outside the confines of the classic John Coltrane quartet of the early '60s; it reveals a lyrical approach to jazz piano that seems a far cry from Tyner's mature style. The choice of material is fairly evenly split between modal pieces like "Inception" and more harmonically involved tunes like "Speak Low," and the pianist's treatment of both demonstrates the extent to which his early work was rooted in bebop…

Bill Withers performs a heartfelt song expressing his love for his partner and his dreams for their future together. He also shares his thoughts on the struggles and hardships of being a black man in America. Withers delivers a powerful spoken word performance, reflecting on the pain and frustration felt by the black community and encouraging the audience to remember the struggles and stand up against oppression. The episode also features a conversation between Bill Withers and poet May Jackson about love, urban life, and black consciousness. Additionally, Bill Withers shares memories of his grandmother and her influential role in his life.