Inception

*Inception* is an apt title for this 1962 debut release by McCoy Tyner, then a young pianist making waves as a member of the groundbreaking John Coltrane Quartet. With Coltrane bandmate Elvin Jones on drums and the solid, versatile Art Davis on bass, Tyner endowed every performance on *Inception* with a clarity and force that marked him from the start as more than a Coltrane apprentice, but a major figure in jazz himself. The way Tyner’s fingers fell on the keys was one of those metaphysical wonders. The lightning lines in the right hand, the percussive rhythms and distinctively voiced chords in the left: After Bud Powell and Bill Evans, this was the most innovative piano playing of the day, paving the way for Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Yet Tyner could tear into an old Kurt Weill or Isham Jones standard with imposing old-school authority as well. And more than just a gripping soloist, he showed great imagination as a composer on *Inception*, with a deep and highly modern take on the blues, not to mention a gift for lyrical, impressionistic ballads like “Sunset.” To this day, one still hears the influence of a Tyner piece like “Effendi,” the locked-in midtempo burner with a somewhat twisted call-and-response piano/bass theme. It’s a sound and sensibility that endures.