In an attempt to avoid sameness, most of pianist McCoy Tyner’s Milestone records of the 1970s used different instrumentation from each other. On this CD reissue, Tyner and his 1976 trio (with bassist Charles Fambrough and drummer Eric Gravatt) are joined by a trio of talented reed players (Gary Bartz, Joe Ford, and Ron Bridgewater) and percussionist Guilherme Franco for three of Tyner’s originals; in addition, Ford is the only horn on his feature “Theme for Nana,” and “Parody” is a Tyner-Gravatt duet. Because virtually all of McCoy Tyner’s records are superior examples of modal-oriented jazz, this gem is merely an above-average effort. – Scott Yanow
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