Pianist McCoy Tyner in Rochester, 1976 (Photo: Tom Marcello, CC BY-SA 2.0)
NEW YORK (AP) — McCoy Tyner, the groundbreaking and influential jazz pianist and the last surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet, has died at age 81. Tyner’s family confirmed the death in a statement released on social media Friday. No more details were provided. Tyner was born in Philadelphia on Dec. 11, 1938. He eventually met Coltrane and joined him for the 1961 album “My Favorite Things,” a major commercial success that highlighted the remarkable chemistry of the John Coltrane Quartet. The quartet would go on to release more revered projects, becoming an internationally renowned group and one of the seminal acts in jazz history.
