October 12, 2004
Contact: Kara Keene
404-651-2981
musklk@langate.gsu.edu
RIALTO CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’ 2004-05 SEASON
CONTINUES WITH “MCCOY TYNER TRIO WITH SPECIAL GUESTS PHAROAH
SANDERS AND RAVI COLTRANE”
JAZZ SERIES BEGINS AT THE RIALTO ON NOVEMBER 20 WITH MCCOY TYNER
ATLANTA—The 2004-05 season at Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Performing Arts
continues on Saturday, November 20 at 8 PM as “McCoy Tyner Trio with Special Guests Pharoah
Sanders and Ravi Coltrane” take the stage. The Rialto Jazz Series will begin with Grammy Awardwinning McCoy Tyner, one of the most revered and influential jazz pianists and composers of all time.
His Trio includes bassist Charnett Moffett and, on drums, Eric Harland. For this performance, Tyner
will be joined by the great tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders—who played alongside Tyner in the
1960’s with the legendary John Coltrane Group—and by Ravi Coltrane, son of that jazz giant and
dynamic saxophonist in his own right.
McCoy Tyner Trio
McCoy Tyner, renowned contemporary acoustic pianist and composer in the jazz tradition, began
studying the instrument at thirteen and has been performing professionally since he was fifteen. His
mother spotted her eldest son’s musical inclinations early and arranged for him to take lessons at the
Philadelphia Music Center. Altogether, Tyner’s formal music training lasted about three years. By high
school, Tyner began to pursue his own course in the field of jazz as his life’s work developing a highly
percussive, modal approach to the piano. Tyner claims Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Art Tatum as
his early musical influences. Tyner went on to achieve international acclaim in John Coltrane’s great
quartet from 1960 to 1965. By the end of 1970, Tyner’s career began to surge forward. He gained a
2004-2005 Rialto Series Cont’d, p. 2
reputation as a leader and a devout acoustic pianist, distinguishing him from many of his renowned
peers. During this period, he received his first two Grammy nominations.
Tyner recorded prolifically while at Milestone, before leaving the label in 1980. He also changed his
performance format from essentially a quintet ensemble to a trio. In addition, Tyner began composing
and arranging music for a 14-piece big band, which was established in 1984 and toured Europe in the fall
of 1990. His first recording with Telarc, McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars, was released in 1999 and
included Gary Bartz, Claudio Roditi, Steve Turre, Dave Valentin, Ignacio Berroa, and Giovanni Hidalgo.
Tyner has always excelled in trio settings. His 2000 McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster was
one of his most exciting. Land of Giants, featuring seven Tyner compositions and the high-class
musicianship of the great jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Charnett Moffett, and drummer
Eric Harland came out June 2003. “McCoy has taste,” Coltrane once said, summing up Tyner perfectly.
“He can take anything and make it sound beautiful.” Tyner continues to perform, record, and tour
throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. He currently lives in New York City.
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders, originally Farrell Sanders from Little Rock, Arkansas, became well-known in the local
jazz scene in Oakland, California, in the early 1960s. In the middle of the decade he moved to New York,
where he worked with Sun Ra and other luminaries of the new jazz avant garde. He was asked by John
Coltrane to join his group in 1965, and so became a part of Coltrane's most experimental unit. After
Coltrane's death in 1967 he continued in musical collaboration with Coltrane's second wife, Alice.
Sanders is known for a distinctive sound, including a split reed technique. While primarily playing the
tenor sax, he has also recorded playing the soprano sax, flutes, and percussion. He can coax unearthly
sounds from the tenor saxophone, and, according to jazz legend, can cause a saxophone to continue to
shriek for minutes after removing it from his mouth.
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane, son of legendary musician John Coltrane, is based in New York City where he has been a
vital piece of the New York jazz scene since 1991. Not only was his father one of the most influential
musicians ever, his mother Alice Coltrane is also a jazz musician creating amazing experimental music
with influences of India. Ravi Coltrane never really knew his father who died at the age of 40 when Ravi
was 2. Despite this, he is John Coltrane influenced though he also credits the
sounds of the 1970s and
80s music: James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire. Even his first brush with Charlie
Parker was from a Chaka Khan record where they had sampled an alto solo. Coltrane is moving
2004-2005 Rialto Series Cont’d, p. 3
ahead, which not only includes the new recording, but the formation of a new band and the running of a
small record company, RKM Music.
Ravi recently released his latest CD, Mad 6.
♦♦♦
SUBSCRIPTIONS & SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale through the Rialto Center Box Office by telephone at
404.651.4727; by fax at 404.651.0966; online at www.rialtocenter.org; or by mail at P.O. Box 2627,
Atlanta, GA 30301-2627. Patrons may subscribe in two ways: purchase 5 or more shows and receive a
15% discount or purchase 7 or more shows and receive a 20% discount. Starting at $32, ticket prices for
these performances vary by seat location. Free parking is provided for all Rialto Series events at the
Equitable Building deck on Fairlie Street. Paid valet parking is also available.
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