Label: Blue Note
CD-R (March 31, 1998)
Jazz
The CD issue of McCoy Tyner's Asante contains the four album tracks as well as a session from July, 1970, that was originally released with material from two late 1960s sessions on a double-LP titled Cosmos. Although this is a nice way to give some extra value to the customer who buys Asante, it probably reduces the chances that we'll be seeing a reissue of Cosmos any time soon, and that's unfortunate. At any rate, Asante continues Tyner's interest in African music that he began in earnest six months earlier with Extensions. Percussionist Mtume is borrowed from Miles Davis' band and the wordless vocals of Songai (Sandra Smith) on the first two tracks add a new dimension to Tyner's music. So does the guitar of Ted Dunbar which, as the liner notes point out, is used like the African kora (a 21-stringed instrument that looks like the combination of a harp and a lute) on the album's title track. The album also goes even further in the direction of collective improvisation, an approach that was popular among experimental jazz ensembles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but which Tyner himself only dabbled in.
The two Songai tracks have an almost otherworldly presence to them. Although Andrew White passes up the chance to bring much individuality to his sax playing, his mimicry of Coltrane is both impassioned and accomplished — and considering that this is a McCoy Tyner record, it's not out of place. Having taken the audience through African spirituals on "Malika" and "Asante," Tyner's sequencing of "Goin' Home" as the third track is particularly effective, as "Goin' Home" has a bluesy groove to it that makes for an effective juxtaposition. This is a track that could easily have been rearranged as an up-tempo fusion tune for an all-electric ensemble and it is an example of how Tyner's early-'70s music occasionally crossed into territory occupied by fusion bands without actually being electric. The final track, an impressive blow-out called "Fulfillment," introduces McCoy Tyner as the physical force of a pianist that he became known as in the 1970s. He really hammers the keys here, playing the whole span of the piano with an intense power and speed.
The earlier material is a sextet of Tyner with Hubert Laws (flutes), Gary Bartz (saxes), Andrew White (oboe), Herbie Lewis (bass) and Freddie Waits (drums). I find the music to be stylistically similar to the material on the previous album, Extensions, despite the different instrumentation. Ever since being exposed to mid-period Soft Machine, I've enjoyed hearing the oboe in a jazz context and it fits very well in the stately, eastern-tinged modalities of early-'70s McCoy Tyner music. "Forbidden Land" and "Hope" are lush, texturally rich pieces that nevertheless don't induce listener fatigue from overcrowding (a problem I sometimes have with jazz sextets). "Forbidden Land" even has a slight hop in the step of its main theme and — probably because of this — I hear similarities to some of Herbie Hancock's contemporaneous work. "Asian Lullaby" is 8 1/2 minutes of variations on a simple melodic theme. It works, but perhaps goes on a bit longer than it should. "Hope" is a vast canvass for soloing and the winner for me here is clearly Tyner, whose long solo represents some of the most intricate and nimble playing that he had put on an album to this point.
By Matt P.
**
"Asante" brings together on CD cuts from two 1970 releases by Tyner: "Asante" (in its entirety) and the double album "Cosmos," from which the CD culls three cuts. The result is about 75 minutes of some extremely imaginative playing from Tyner and a great collection of bandmates.
The first two cuts feature soaring vocals from Songai, which help to take the music well beyond the realm of mainstream jazz. They set the tone for the whole CD: Tyner blends powerful progressive jazz with exotic African and Eastern sounds, continuing the line established by John Coltrane during the '60s.
The CD also highlights Tyner's compositional skills. He displays throughout a knack for writing lyrical, even hummable melodies, strengthened by powerful percussion and muscular horns. A good example is "Asian Lullaby," from "Cosmos," a composition that shows what fertile ground Tyner and others were plowing before fusion started dulling the consciousness of record executives and the public alike.
A word must also be said about Tyner's cohorts on this release. The drumming by Billy Hart, Freddie Waits and Mtume is superior throughout. Andrew White plays alto ably on "Asante," then switches to oboe for "Cosmos" to add some breadth to the sound. The real powerhouse (aside from Tyner and his piano, of course) for me, though, is the underrecorded Gary Bartz, who plays alto and soprano on the three cuts from "Cosmos." Always a great player, Bartz is at the top of his game here. He sears through all his solos, but never forgets the melodic line and captures the rich flavor of Tyner's tunes.
Tyner shows with this CD that jazz is music that draws, as Coltrane said, from a huge reservoir. "Asante," with its broad palette of colors, paints an endlessly fascinating picture of Tyner's musical world.
Highly recommended.
By Tyler Smith.
**
McCoy Tyner, piano, wooden flute; Andrew White, alto sax, oboe; Ted Dunbar, guitar; Buster Williams, bass; Billy Hart, drums; Mtume, congas; Songai, vocals; Hubert Laws, flute, alto flute; Gary Bartz, soprano sax, alto sax; Herbie Lewis, bass; Freddie Waits, drums
**
01. Malika 14:00
02. Asante 6:09
03. Goin' Home 7:37
04. Fulfillment 13:57
05. Forbidden Land 13:46
06. Asian Lullaby 8:30
07. Hope 14:11
**
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