McCoy Tyner - Inception (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)

McCoy Tyner's Inception is the 1962 debut of a pianist who would soon change how jazz piano sounded, presented here on 180-gram vinyl as part of the Verve Acoustic Sounds Series.

At the time, Tyner was already the engine room of John Coltrane's quartet, but this trio date gave him space to show what he could do on his own terms. Producer Bob Thiele brought him into the studio with bassist Art Davis and Coltrane's own drummer Elvin Jones, and the chemistry between piano and drums crackles from the opening bars.

The title track bursts out of the gate with the percussive, chord-stacking attack that would become Tyner's signature, his left hand ringing out with real authority. "Blues for Gwen" shows his deep feel for the blues, while his take on Kurt Weill's "Speak Low" reveals how naturally he could reshape a standard into something fresh and searching. "Effendi" closes in on a sound that is already unmistakably his own.

Jones pushes and prods throughout, never letting the trio settle into politeness, and Davis anchors it all with a big, round tone.

On any serious jazz shelf this belongs near the front, an essential first chapter and the sound of a young giant stepping confidently into his own spotlight.