In an attempt to avoid similarities, most of pianist
McCoy Tyner's Milestone records of the 1970s used different instrumentation from each other. Here
Tyner and his 1976 trio (with bassist
Charles Fambrough and drummer Eric Gravatt) are joined by a trio of talented reed players (
Gary Bartz,
Joe Ford, and
Ron Bridgewater) and percussionist
Guilherme Franco for three of
Tyner's originals; in addition,
Ford is the only horn on his feature "Theme for Nana," and "Parody" is a
Tyner-Gravatt duet. Because virtually all of
Tyner's records are superior examples of modal-oriented jazz, this gem is merely an above-average effort. ~ Scott Yanow