Recorded on May 17, 1968, and released in August of 1968, McCoy’s Tyner sixth albums feature the trio of Tyner, Herbie Lewis on bass and Freddie Waits on drums with the addition of Bobby Hutcherson on vibes for the first side of the two lengthier Tyner compositions and the the first two tracks on side two, Tyner’s “May Street” and Richard Rodger’s “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” from the 1939 Musical, “Too Many Girls.”
Tyner is in excellent form here, with every note contributing, even the rapid Art Tatum like scales. The three musical show tunes are all given special treatment, with “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” performed as a captivating piano solo, and the three Tyner compositions are all excellent, with African Village recalling Mongo Santamaria’s Afro Blue from the amazing “must have” 1963 recording, “Live at Birdland” with Tyner, Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones.
Track listing
- “African Village” (McCoy Tyner)- 12:11
- “Little Madimba” (Tyner)- 8:34
- “May Street” (Tyner)- 5:22
- “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” (Hart, Rodgers) – 7:10
- “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” (Hammerstein, Rodgers) – 5:12
- “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” (Lerner, Loewe) – 4:27
Musicians
- McCoy Tyner – piano
- Bobby Hutcherson – vibes (tracks 1-4)
- Herbie Lewis – bass (tracks 1-5)
- Freddie Waits – drums (tracks 1-5)
Not just another San Franciscan psychedelic rock band, but a particularly talented set of musicians that were part of the new direction of album-oriented rock. There are jazz and even traces of classical music influences in the structure, group work, and solos on this album. This, their very first album, is relatively short in length and not exactly a coherent work as it includes recordings spanning two years of musical development with tracks from 1966, 1967 and 1968. “Gold and Silver” is the strongest track, with the first half of “The Fool”, being also quite good. Album was released in May of 1968.
Track listing [from Wikipedia]
Side one
- “Pride of Man” – 4:08 (Hamilton Camp)
- “Light Your Windows” – 2:38 (Gary Duncan, David Freiberg)
- “Dino’s Song”[4] – 3:08 (Dino Valenti)
- “Gold and Silver” – 6:43 (Gary Duncan, Steve Schuster)
Side two
- “It’s Been Too Long” – 3:01 (Ron Polte)
- “The Fool” – 12:07 (Gary Duncan, David Freiberg)
Musicians
- John Cipollina – Lead Guitar
- Gary Duncan – Guitar, Vocals
- David Freiberg – Bass Guitar, Vocals, Viola
- Greg Elmore – Drums
zumpoems 
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