McCoy Tyner Quartet ••••
McCoy Tyner, McCoy Tyner Music
On this debut album for his own label, McCoy Tyner (piano) went first class with stalwart musicians Joe Lovano (sax), Christian McBride (bass), and Jeff “Train” Watts (drums) and reminded us that great music is not made in heaven but right here on earth. All the performances in their power and eloquence compel you to share Mr. Tyner’s sense of discovery and exhilaration. This is an album for all jazz lovers who relish the supreme play of the musicians’ mind and their imagination to blend poetry and music for one beautiful breath of life. And on pieces like “Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit” and “Sama Luyuca,” the music is vital, beautifully shaped, and has no want of brilliance or authority, especially from Mr. Lovano’s superb playing. The sheer bravura of his readings with their characteristic mixture of sensuality and tender grace, full of subtle touches of timing and color and savoring alike Mr. Tyner’s delicate piano details and his often luscious textures. The reverberant recording adds emphasis to the quality of the music, and allows us to hear all the subtleties in these performances with their blend of thoughtful scholarship, technical precision and fresh spontaneity.

Other highlights include “Search For Peace,” predictably breathtaking in its virtuosity, and “For All We Know.” On “For All We Know,” the piano notes gush forth like a welcome rainfall on a warm summer’s night. The pure sensation is so startling that one feels a little lustful for something more. A tease, a hint, a secret desire, or perhaps a little more of that piano music that seems to beckon you into something deeper, more mysterious. But then it’s over; and there is a thunderous applause from the audience and suddenly you’re back and you realize that it was only the music. And there you are.

The whole recording is quite faithfully truthful throughout this unusually absorbing collection.

The Toys Of Men •••
Stanley Clarke, Heads Up
Guitarist Stanley Clarke’s latest album is supposedly about the folly of war. But do we need music to teach us that war is bad? After centuries of killing each other, television has now brought the horrors and ravages of war into our homes and our daily lives. And it’s not nice. Personally, I want the music I listen to to take me away from the stresses of the world, not exacerbate that stress.

The title track, “The Toys Of Men,” (a suite consisting of six pieces: Draconian, Fear, Chaos, Cosmic Intervention, The Opening of the Gates, and God Light), starts the album with a cacophony of sounds that’s like being in a room full of toys, a kind of hunting around for the right weapons to launch one’s war. A prelude, a search for a reason or cause — Oh, what the hell! Let’s not pretend here: we are going out to kill some people. For what follows next is the rallying cry, “Come On,”  which is about letting go and finding peace within yourself according to Mr. Clarke, and “Jerusalem,” written by keyboardist Ruslan Sirota, a native of Israel, an effective melody that “transcends the unrest that has plagued the revered Middle Eastern city for thousands of years and reconnects with its inherent beauty.” The composition of “All Over Again” is well played and richly focused but there is an inevitability of something to come — as in the children’s story of Bambi, “man is in the forest,” again. But just when you think all is not well, Mr. Clarke is ready to console us with “La Concion De Sofia,” a haunting melody that for me brings home the horrors and ravages of war. The song is about what follows after men use their war toys. Finally, there is the elegy of “El Bajo Negro” — the planning and execution of the war. “The Toys Of Men” is a good album, even in a time of war and no peace, and though the music is poignantly haunting, there is hope for that’s what makes us all humans — dancing in the time of sorrow in God’s light.

Being There ••••
Tord Gustavsen Trio, ECM 2017
Tord Gustavsen’s latest release remains an album which leaps out at you for its concentration and vitality, not just through the pianist’s weight and gravity, expressed as though spontaneously, but also through the support of Harald Johnsen (double-bass) and Jarle Vespestad (drums). Both musicians respond to Mr. Gustavsen’s demands with verve and perception and the sort of confidence that would carry any music aloft in triumph. It sets the seal on a most distinguished enterprise. The sound-recording under the auspices of Manfred Eichner does the performers full justice. Highlights include “At Home,” “Karmosin,” “Cocoon,” “Around You,” and “Wide Open.”

Transoceanic •••
Ralph Johnson, Audio Caviar
Having played a role in creating an enduring musical legacy as an original member of Earth, Wind & Fire, drummer-vocalist Ralph Johnson’s latest release, “Transoceanic,” with his three band members and their accomplished guests, is organic, textured and warm. The well-crafted songs connect on a variety of levels. The compositions and recordings are elaborate endeavors that brazenly push the outer limits in scope while tethered to a jazz, urban and World Music base. Lending their talents to the album were George Duke, Jonathan Butler, Howard Hewett, Dori Caymmi, Paulinho De Costa, EWF’s Philip Bailey and Verdine White, Al McKay (original EWF guitarist) and the EWF horn section.

Christmas Music

Peter White Christmas •••
Peter White, Artizen Music Group
Peter White along with his good friends, Rick Braun (trumpet, lead vocals) and Mindi Abair (sax, lead vocals) has given us a Christmas album to help make this time of year a special one. Christmas evokes memories — memories that are both bad and good, sacred and not sacred, happy and unhappy. Even war sometimes takes a back seat this time of the year. Why? Because Peter White Christmas reminds many of us that there is some kind of God and we all long to be part of something greater than ourselves. Not your typical Christmas album, but still a most enjoyable one. The performers include a list of some fine folks that include Ron Reinhardt (piano), Reyford Griffin (drums, lead vocals), Nate Phillips (electric bass), Jeffrey Osborne (lead vocals), Brian Bromberg (acoustic bass), Kevin Wyatt (background vocals), Lenny Castro (bongos), Russ Braun (trombone), Eddie Arnold (background vocals), and Craig Sharmat (strings).

All CDs reviewed in this article are heard through Bowers & Wilkens 802D Speakers and ASW 4000 subwoofer, and Rotel Preamp 1070, amplifier 1092 and CD player1072. For more information about this column, please email your questions to fagon@hillrag.com