Quartets 4 X 4
Studio album by
McCoy Tyner
Released1980
RecordedMarch 3, 5, 6 & May 29, 1980
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreJazz, post-bop, modal jazz
Length76:20
LabelMilestone M 55007
ProducerOrrin Keepnews
McCoy Tyner chronology
Horizon
(1979) 		Quartets 4 X 4
(1980) 		13th House
(1980)

Quartets 4 X 4 is a 1980 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, released on the Milestone label. It was recorded in March and May 1980 by Tyner with bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Al Foster and featuring trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, guitarist John Abercrombie (here playing mandolin), vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, each for one side of the original double LP. The album was digitally remastered and first issued on a single CD in 1993.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This collection is a fine all-around showcase for the brilliant pianist even if no new ground is broken".[4] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz are "pretty disappoint[ed], given the personnel. Everyone plays politely rather than with any pressing need to communicate anything, and as a result it's perhaps the meeting with Hutcherson [...] which comes off best".[3]

Track listing

  1. "Inner Glimpse" - 6:18
  2. "Manhã de Carnaval" (Luiz Bonfá, Antônio Maria) - 5:19
  3. "Paradox" (Cecil McBee) - 6:51
  4. "Backward Glance" (John Abercrombie) - 9:11
  5. "Forbidden Land" - 10:39
  6. "Pannonica" (Thelonious Monk) - 5:57
  7. "I Wanna Stand over There" (Bobby Hutcherson) - 5:19
  8. "The Seeker" - 7:38
  9. "Blues in the Minor" - 8:05
  10. "Stay as Sweet as You Are" (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon) - 4:36
  11. "It's You or No One" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) - 6:27
All compositions by McCoy Tyner except as indicated.

Personnel

References

  1. ^ AllMusic Review
  2. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 196. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2006), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, 8th edition, London: Penguin Books, p. 1311f, ISBN 0-141-02327-9
  4. ^ Yanow, S. AllMusic Review accessed February 25, 2009.
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