Alfred McCoy Tyner (born December 11, 1938), commonly known as McCoy Tyner, is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet.
The Coltrane Quartet, which consisted of Coltrane on tenor sax, Tyner, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, toured almost non-stop between 1961 and 1965 and recorded a number of classic albums, including Ballads, Crescents, and The John Coltrane Quartet Plays …, on the Impulse! label.
Tyner has recorded a number of highly influential albums in his own right, including his best-known and most celebrated work, consisting of several hard bop albums released on the Blue Note label, in the 1967–1970 time frame (The Real McCoy, 1967; Tender Moments, 1967; Expansions, 1968; Extensions, 1970). Often cited as a major influence on younger jazz musicians, Tyner still records and tours regularly and has played since the 1980s with a trio that includes Avery Sharpe on bass and Aaron Scott on drums.
Tyner has been a Sunni Muslim since the age of 18. His Muslim name is Sulaimon Saud.
