KeyBank Dance Series to Present McCoy Tyner Trio with Special Guest Savion Glover

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Savion Glover and The McCoy Tyner Trio at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. The performance is sponsored by KeyBank. It also is sponsored in part by Kinetic Kitchen & Bath.

In a night where the keyboard meets the floorboard, legendary pianist McCoy Tyner and his trio are joined by tap master Savion Glover.

It is not an overstatement to say that modern jazz has been shaped by the music of McCoy Tyner. His blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists.

At 17 he began a career-changing relationship with Miles Davis' sideman saxophonist John Coltrane. Tyner joined Coltrane for the classic album My Favorite Things (1960), and remained at the core of what became one of the most seminal groups in jazz history, The John Coltrane Quartet. He performed on Coltrane's classic recordings such as "Live at the Village Vanguard," "Impressions" and Coltrane's signature suite, "A Love Supreme."

In 1965, after more than five years with Coltrane's quartet, Tyner left the group to explore his destiny as a composer and bandleader. Among his major projects is a 1967 album titled "The Real McCoy," on which he was joined by saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Ron Carter and fellow Coltrane alumnus Elvin Jones. His 1972 Grammy-award nominated album Sahara, broke new ground by the sounds and rhythms of Africa. Since 1980, he has also arranged his lavishly textured harmonies for a big band that performs and records when possible. In the late 1980s, he mainly focused on his regular piano trio featuring Avery Sharpe on bass and Aarron Scott on drums. As of today, this trio is still in great demand. He returned to Impulse in 1995, with a superb album featuring Michael Brecker. In 1996 he recorded a special album with the music of Burt Bacharach. In 1998 he changed labels again and recorded an interesting Latin album and an album featuring Stanley Clarke for TelArc.

Today, Tyner has released nearly 80 albums under his name, earned four Grammys and was awarded Jazz Master from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He continues to leave his mark on generations of improvisers, and yet remains a disarmingly modest and spiritually directed man.

Known to many as the undisputed king of tap, Savion Glover made his Broadway debut at age 12 as the title character in "The Tap Dance Kid." Throughout the years, he has worked with Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr. and Buster Brown. Additionally, he has created two dance companies, appeared in many movies and performed for former President Clinton in the White House. Most recently, he won a Tony Award for his choreography in the "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk," and played the animated penguin "Mumble" in "Happy Feet."

Tickets for McCoy Tyner Trio with Special Guest Savion Glover are $48, $42, $36. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS.