McCoy Tyner - Asante (Tone Poet)

By 1970, McCoy Tyner had begun turning more insistently toward African rhythmic and harmonic ideas, that pull already audible in his late 60s Blue Note work, though here it sits at the centre, the band assembled around him with a kind of purposeful density. 'Malika' opens across a wide, undulating percussive field, Billy Hart and Mtume layering hand drums and kit into a shifting bed, Tyner's piano entering in clustered chords that strike, bloom, then hang in the air, Songai's voice threading through in long, floating lines. The title track continues in that vein, the rhythm section moving in interlocking cycles while the piano pushes against it with heavier, more insistent figures. 'Fulfillment' gathers speed, Tyner's right hand running in tight, cascading patterns over a driving pulse that refuses to settle.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.