Focal Point (album)

Focal Point is a 1976 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, his tenth to be released on the Milestone label. It was recorded during four days in August 1976 and features a septet fronted by three reed players (Gary Bartz, Joe Ford and Ron Bridgewater) who were in part multiplied through overdubs. On one track Tyner is heard picking a dulcimer backed by tablas, evoking the sound of an Indian sitar. "Parody" is a duo with Eric Gravatt on drums. The album was digitally remastered at Fantasy Studios in 1999 and re-released on Original Jazz Classics.

Focal Point
Studio album by
McCoy Tyner
Released1976
RecordedAugust 4–7, 1976
StudioFantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA
GenreJazz, post-bop, modal jazz
LabelMilestone M 9072
ProducerOrrin Keepnews
McCoy Tyner chronology
Fly with the Wind
(1976)		 Focal Point
(1976)		 Supertrios
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
All About Jazz(Positive)[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]
Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[4]

Reception

Cook and Morton in their Penguin Guide to Jazz write that "Focal Point looks to secure the firepower in the studio which the band generated in concert", but they suggest that the overdubbing of the horns "sometimes leads to stiffness in the ensemble sound". Nevertheless they "were a little surprised to find how well it's aged".[4] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "Because virtually all of McCoy Tyner's records are superior examples of modal-oriented jazz, this gem is merely an above-average effort".[5]

Track listing
  1. "Mes trois fils" - 7:56
  2. "Parody" - 6:55
  3. "Indo-Serenade" - 5:35
  4. "Mode for Dulcimer" - 8:59
  5. "Departure" - 5:58
  6. "Theme for Nana" - 5:14
All compositions by McCoy Tyner

Personnel

References
  1. Allmusic Review
  2. All About Jazz review
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 194. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2006), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, 8th edition, London: Penguin Books, p. 1311, ISBN 0-141-02327-9
  5. Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 24, 2009.
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