McCoy Tyner Trio

Strangely enough, throughout McCoy Tyner's storied career, which spans more than five decades, the jazz pianist has rarely performed with a guitar player — something he more than makes up for on Guitars, his fittingly titled recent effort. The outstanding disc, which features lauded fretmen Bill Frisell, John Scofield (see below), Marc Ribot and Derek Trucks, shows why the seventy-year-old Tyner has been one of the greatest pianists in the history of jazz: Whether he's playing with guitarists, horn players or in the trio setting, he always dazzles with his percussive left-handed block chords and his impeccable timing. For a guy who got his start playing with John Coltrane at the ripe age of seventeen, you'd expect nothing less.