Dave Kikoski Part Four | From Bach to Shorter (E45)

“We want Kikoski! We want Kikoski!” That’s what LTNF fans are shouting to the rooftops after listening to the first three episodes of this ground-breaking interview. Dave has dazzled us with jazz… but more important he has dazzled us with his first-person stories of his recordings and touring.

This final episode in the series does not disappoint. We start with Bach (yes, Johann Sebastian… the very one) and move through three other tracks from Dave’s collection of favorites. Sonny Rollins has a moment as does Randy Brecker, McCoy Tyner and Wayne Shorter. True to form, Dave has a lot to say about each artist and track.

100 Records, Walking with Jazz Giants, Many Sides to this Dave Kikoski

This DJ… this PJ DJ… is lucky! Fortunate. Blessed. It is by chance that Dave and I exchanged business cards and started this series. The feedback has been tremendous. In some way I feel like we have created something worthy of note. Something out of the ether that contributes to our broader culture. And that makes me so happy. Each week this radio show takes me to a new place. So be sure to pass it on – let’s support Dave and other jazz musicians, the men and women who keep this jazz flame lit.

Worthy of Note!

Alfred McCoy Tyner was born on December 11, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the oldest of three children of Jarvis and Beatrice (Stevenson) Tyner. His younger brother Jarvis Tyner was the executive vice-chairman of the Communist Party USA. McCoy was encouraged to study piano by his mother. He began studying the piano at age 13 and within two years music had become the focal point in his life. He studied at West Philadelphia Music School and later at the Granoff School of Music. During his teens he led his own group, the Houserockers.

Tyner’s playing style developed in close contact with John Coltrane. His style of piano is comparable to Coltrane’s maximalist style on saxophone. Writing in 2019, Sami Linna at the University of the Arts Helsinki noted that Coltrane described the two different directions in his playing as: “playing chordally (vertically) or melodically (horizontally)”. Linna suggests: “Tyner would eventually find a way of dealing with the two directions simultaneously, in a manner that was supportive and complementary yet original and slightly different from Coltrane’s approach.” After 1960 Coltrane did not hire anyone at the piano if Tyner was not available; between Tyner joining the group (around the end of May 1960) and leaving (in December 1965), there was nobody else at the piano accompanying Coltrane.

Tyner was named a 2002 NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. He won five Grammy Awards: for The Turning Point(1992) and Journey (1993) and best instrumental jazz album for Illuminations (2004), Infinity (1995), and Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane (1987).

Tyner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music at the Sala dei Notari during the Umbria Jazz Festival. Tyner was a judge for the 6th, 10th and 11th annual Independent Music Awards (IMAs).

McCoy Tyner passed away on March 6, 2020.