McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster (Telarc)
Tyner, due here this year, has been a major - if not altogether benign - influence on jazz piano since his modal orchestral tsunamis with John Coltrane. But this latest trio offering is like the accomplished twilight of a revolutionary, with only occasional touches (The Night Has A Thousand Eyes) of the vertiginously inventive drive he can call on. It's undoubtedly attractive; the lush Never Let Me Go is like being love-bombed harmonically and Carriba has a joyous calypso feel, but Tyner's solo work is episodic. The more interesting solo spots come from bassist Stanley Clarke who, like drummer Al Foster, has to play follow-the-leader in the trio. Ingratiating, certainly, but in jazz terms music for middlebrows.
- Ray Comiskey
Jimmy Smith: Six Views Of The Blues (Blue Note)
This previously unreleased late-1950s date catches organist Smith in fine form, with company that's a mixture of the familiar and the unusual. The familiar is provided by guitarist Kenny Burrell and, sharing the drum chair, Art Blakey and Donald Bailey; the unusual is baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne in a rare Blue Note appearance. Everybody plays well - the irresistible groove laid down by Burrell's rhythm guitar, Smith's bass lines and by each of the drummers, ensures that. Together they delve effectively and idiomatically into the perennial nourishment of the blues. No masterpiece here - just a mellow gathering replete with the unforced assurance of those to whom the blues is second nature.
- Ray Comiskey