McCoy Tyner: Song For My Lady

This was Tyner's second Milestone album after 1972's Sahara (a recording with his working quartet) and was preceded by many ambitious adventures with strings, voices, big band arrangements and several overdubs. The record itself lies somewhere between these extremes: It is recorded in part by McCoy's quintet, with the rest augmented by guests such as Mtume on drums, violinist Michael White and flugelhornist Charles Tolliver. Above all, it defines the pianist's powerful and highly influential style and stature in the seventies: percussive piano, extensions of the Coltrane modality and an emphasis on Tyner's hypnotically powerful original compositions. With Sonny Fortune, Charles Tolliver, Michael White, Calvin Hill, Alphonse Mouzon, Mtume