McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner's association with Milestone was extremely beneficial to his career, as he recorded 19 albums as a leader for the label, in addition to the Milestone "All Stars" quartet with Sonny Rollins during his eight-year tenure with the label. Condensing such a prolific output onto a single disc to profile his work for Milestone involved some tough choices for the compilation's producer, but the nine tracks chosen represent a good cross-section. The pianist is heard in a solo setting (a moving take of "Naima"), a trio with Ron Carter and Elvin Jones (a thunderous "Impressions"), along with quartets and larger ensembles. It's easy to nitpick about a favorite track being omitted (how can his intense solo concert performance of "Passion Dance" not be a part of this compilation?), but the idea behind this release is to get serious jazz fans to investigate all of McCoy Tyner's Milestone recordings, which were pretty much in print at the time this compilation appeared in 2006. The bonus disc consists of selections by other Milestone artists and Tyner is not a part of any of these tracks. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide