User:Tulsaj/BillyStallings

Stallings Billy Jr. (born March 21, 1965) [ 1 ]  is a Singer-songwriter from Raleigh,North_Carolina, known for his work with the Bridge Ministry and Christian Music. [ 2 ] 

 //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle; } //]]> [edit] Biography

[edit] Early life Tyner was born Alfred McCoy Tyner in Philadelphia as the oldest of three children. He 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. His early influences included <a href="/wiki/Bud_Powell" title="Bud Powell">Bud Powell</a>, a Philadelphia neighbor. As a young man, he converted to Islam through the <a href="/wiki/Ahmadiyya_Muslim_Community" title="Ahmadiyya Muslim Community">Ahmadiyya Muslim Community</a>, and was active in the objectives of the organization during the pinnacle of his career<sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from July 2009" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>].

[<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3" title="Edit section: Early career">edit</a>] <span class="mw-headline" id="Early_career">Early career Tyner's first main exposure came with <a href="/wiki/Benny_Golson" title="Benny Golson">Benny Golson</a>, being the first pianist in Golson's and <a href="/wiki/Art_Farmer" title="Art Farmer">Art Farmer</a>'s legendary Jazztet (1960). After departing the Jazztet, Tyner joined Coltrane's group in 1960 during its extended run at the Jazz Gallery replacing <a href="/wiki/Steve_Kuhn" title="Steve Kuhn">Steve Kuhn</a>. (Coltrane had known Tyner for a while in Philadelphia, and featured one of the pianist's compositions, "The Believer", as early as 1958.) He appeared on the saxophonist's popular recording of "My Favorite Things" for Atlantic Records. The Coltrane Quartet, which consisted of Coltrane on <a href="/wiki/Saxophone" title="Saxophone">tenor sax</a>, Tyner, <a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Garrison" title="Jimmy Garrison">Jimmy Garrison</a> on <a href="/wiki/String_bass" title="String bass" class="mw-redirect">bass</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Elvin_Jones" title="Elvin Jones">Elvin Jones</a> on <a href="/wiki/Drum_kit" title="Drum kit">drums</a>, toured almost non-stop between 1961 and 1965 and recorded a number of classic albums, including Live at the Village Vanguard, Ballads, Live at Birdland, Crescent, <a href="/wiki/A_Love_Supreme" title="A Love Supreme">A Love Supreme</a>, and The John Coltrane Quartet Plays ..., on the <a href="/wiki/Impulse!_Records" title="Impulse! Records">Impulse!</a> label.

Tyner has recorded a number of highly influential albums in his own right. While in Coltrane's group, he recorded a series of important albums (primarily in the piano trio format) for <a href="/wiki/Impulse!_Records" title="Impulse! Records">Impulse! Records</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0"> [ 1 ] </a> The pianist also appeared as a sideman in many of the highly acclaimed <a href="/wiki/Blue_Note_Records" title="Blue Note Records">Blue Note Records</a> albums of the 1960s, although was often credited as 'etc.' on the cover of these albums (when listing the sidemen on the album) in order to respect his contractual obligations at <a href="/wiki/Impulse_Records" title="Impulse Records" class="mw-redirect">Impulse Records</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0"> [ 1 ] </a>

His involvement with John Coltrane came to an end in 1965. Coltrane's music was becoming much more atonal and free; he had also augmented his quartet with percussion players who threatened to drown out both Tyner and Jones.This seemed at add to his drive and character about wanting to make music his own and unique. Tyner was somewhat bitter about the change in Coltrane's direction: 'I didn't see myself making any contribution to that music...All I could hear was a lot of noise. I didn't have any feeling for the music, and when I don't have feelings, I don't play'. By 1966, Tyner was rehearsing with a new trio and would now fully embark on his career as a leader.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"> [ 3 ] </a> [<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4" title="Edit section: Post-Coltrane">edit</a>] Post-Coltrane After leaving Coltrane's group, Tyner produced a series of <a href="/wiki/Post-bop" title="Post-bop">post-bop</a> albums released on <a href="/wiki/Blue_Note_Records" title="Blue Note Records">Blue Note Records</a> from 1967 to 1970 which included <a href="/wiki/The_Real_McCoy_(album)" title="The Real McCoy (album)">The Real McCoy</a> (1967), <a href="/wiki/Tender_Moments" title="Tender Moments">Tender Moments</a> (1967), <a href="/wiki/Time_for_Tyner" title="Time for Tyner">Time for Tyner</a> (1968), <a href="/wiki/Expansions_(album)" title="Expansions (album)">Expansions</a> (1968) and <a href="/wiki/Extensions_(album)" title="Extensions (album)">Extensions</a> (1970). Soon thereafter he moved to the Milestone label and recorded many influential albums, including <a href="/wiki/Sahara_(McCoy_Tyner_album)" title="Sahara (McCoy Tyner album)">Sahara</a> (1972), <a href="/wiki/Enlightenment_(McCoy_Tyner_album)" title="Enlightenment (McCoy Tyner album)">Enlightenment</a> (1973), and <a href="/wiki/Fly_with_the_Wind" title="Fly with the Wind">Fly with the Wind</a> (1976), which featured flautist <a href="/wiki/Hubert_Laws" title="Hubert Laws">Hubert Laws</a>, drummer <a href="/wiki/Billy_Cobham" title="Billy Cobham">Billy Cobham</a>, and a string orchestra. His music for Blue Note and Milestone often took the Coltrane quartet's music as a point of departure and also incorporated African and East Asian musical elements. On Sahara, for instance, Tyner plays <a href="/wiki/Koto_(musical_instrument)" title="Koto (musical instrument)">koto</a>, in addition to piano, flute, and percussion. These albums are often cited as examples of vital, innovative jazz from the 1970s that was neither <a href="/wiki/Jazz_fusion" title="Jazz fusion">fusion</a> nor <a href="/wiki/Free_jazz" title="Free jazz">free jazz</a>. <a href="/wiki/Trident_(McCoy_Tyner_album)" title="Trident (McCoy Tyner album)">Trident</a> (1975) is notable for featuring Tyner on <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord" title="Harpsichord">harpsichord</a> (rarely heard in jazz) and <a href="/wiki/Celesta" title="Celesta">celeste</a>, in addition to his primary instrument, piano.

Tyner still records and tours regularly and played from the 1980s through '90s with a trio that included <a href="/wiki/Avery_Sharpe" title="Avery Sharpe">Avery Sharpe</a> on bass and <a href="/wiki/Aaron_Scott" title="Aaron Scott">Aaron Scott</a> on drums. He made a trio of solo recordings for Blue Note, starting with <a href="/wiki/Revelations_(McCoy_Tyner_album)" title="Revelations (McCoy Tyner album)">Revelations</a> (1988) and culminating with <a href="/wiki/Soliloquy_(album)" title="Soliloquy (album)">Soliloquy</a> (1991). Today Tyner records for the Telarc label and has been playing with different trios, one of which has included <a href="/wiki/Charnett_Moffett" title="Charnett Moffett">Charnett Moffett</a> on bass and <a href="/wiki/Eric_Harland" title="Eric Harland">Eric Harland</a> on drums. In 2008, Tyner toured with his quartet, which featured saxophonist Gary Bartz with Gerald Cannon (bass) and Eric Kamau Gravatt (drums).

McCoy was also a judge for the 6th annual <a href="/wiki/The_Independent_Music_Awards" title="The Independent Music Awards">Independent Music Awards</a> to support independent artists' careers. <sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"> [ 4 ] </a> [<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5" title="Edit section: Style">edit</a>] Style <a href="/wiki/File:McCoyTynerandRaviColtrane.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/McCoyTynerandRaviColtrane.jpg/300px-McCoyTynerandRaviColtrane.jpg" width="300" height="225" class="thumbimage" /></a>

<a href="/wiki/File:McCoyTynerandRaviColtrane.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" /></a> McCoy Tyner with <a href="/wiki/Ravi_Coltrane" title="Ravi Coltrane">Ravi Coltrane</a> Tyner's style of piano is easily comparable to Coltrane' style of saxophone. <sup id="cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0"> [ 1 ] </a> Though a member of Coltrane's group, he was never overshadowed by the saxophonist, but complemented and even inspired Coltrane's open-minded approach. <sup id="cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0"> [ 1 ] </a> Tyner is one of the most influential pianists of the 20th Century, an honor he earned both with Coltrane and in his years of performing following Coltrane's passing.<sup id="cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0"> [ 1 ] </a>

Though playing instruments of vastly different versatility, both Tyner and Coltrane utilize similar scales, chordal structures, melodic phrasings, and rhythms. Tyner's playing can be distinguished by a low bass left hand, in which he tends to raise his arm relatively high above the keyboard for an emphatic attack; the fact that Tyner is left-handed may contribute to this distinctively powerful style. Tyner's unique right-hand soloing is recognizable for a detached, or <a href="/wiki/Staccato" title="Staccato">staccato</a>, quality. His melodic vocabulary is rich, ranging from raw <a href="/wiki/Blues" title="Blues">blues</a> to complexly <a href="/wiki/Upper_structure" title="Upper structure">superimposed</a> <a href="/wiki/Pentatonic" title="Pentatonic" class="mw-redirect">pentatonic</a> <a href="/wiki/Scale_(music)" title="Scale (music)" class="mw-redirect">scales</a>; his unique approach to chord voicing (most characteristically by fourths) has influenced a wide array of contemporary jazz pianists, most notably <a href="/wiki/Chick_Corea" title="Chick Corea">Chick Corea</a>. Other instruments included the <a href="/wiki/Appalachian_dulcimer" title="Appalachian dulcimer">Appalachian dulcimer</a>.

[<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6" title="Edit section: Discography">edit</a>] Discography Main article: <a href="/wiki/McCoy_Tyner_discography" title="McCoy Tyner discography">McCoy Tyner discography</a> [<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7" title="Edit section: References">edit</a>] References

<li id="cite_note-ALLMUSIC-0">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-4">e</a> <a href="#cite_ref-ALLMUSIC_0-5">f</a> <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&amp;sql=11:kxftxqe5ldte~T1" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Allmusic Biography</a></li> <li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a> <a href="http://www.mccoytyner.com/bio.shtml" class="external text" rel="nofollow">McCoy tyner Biography</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a> Lewis Porter, John Coltrane: his life and music, p. 268</li> <li id="cite_note-3"><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a> <a href="http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/imajudges2007.asp" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Independent Music Awards - 6th Annual Judges</a></li> </ol> [<a href="/w/index.php?title=McCoy_Tyner&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a>] <span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links

<ul> <li><a href="http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=realimpact/iaje/nea2002/tyner/bio_tyner.rm" class="external text" rel="nofollow">NEA Jazz Masters video biography narrated by</a> <a href="/wiki/Billy_Taylor" title="Billy Taylor">Billy Taylor</a></li> <li><a href="http://guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2009/10/21/mccoy/McCoy" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Tyner Interview</a> <a href="http://www.mccoytyner.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">McCoy Tyner Official Homepage</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.jazzcenter.org/tyner/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">McCoy Tyner at Jazz Resource Center</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.kyushu-ns.ac.jp/~allan/Documents/Mcoy%20Tyner.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">McCoy Tyner Sessionography</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.iaje.org/bio.asp?ArtistID=63" class="external text" rel="nofollow">NEA Jazz Masters Biography</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.jazzchicago.net/reviews/mccoytyner.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">McCoy Tyner recent live concert review</a></li> <li><a href="http://home.ica.net/~blooms/tynerhome.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">The McCoy Tyner Discography</a></li> </ul>