Album
Things Ain't What They Used To Be
Blue Note · Recording Location: Merkin Hall · Notable Collaborators: [John Scofield] (guitar), [George Adams] (tenor saxophone)
Solo Reflections and Unexpected Conversations
Tyner plays with the kind of clarity that makes you hear familiar melodies as if for the first time.
Things Ain't What They Used to Be finds McCoy Tyner at Merkin Hall working mostly alone, which is where his playing becomes most revealing. These are solo performances, the kind where there's nowhere to hide—just the pianist and his instrument figuring out what a melody can become when you're not worried about keeping time with anyone else. Tyner has this gift for taking a tune and reshaping it through his harmonic choices. He doesn't play around the melody; he plays through it, finding angles you didn't know existed. The writing here is solid, honest work without pretension.
What makes this album distinctive is how Tyner breaks up the solo material with collaborations. He plays three duets with guitarist John Scofield and two with tenor saxophonist George Adams. These aren't just jam sessions—they're actual conversations between players who listen carefully to each other. Scofield's guitar work meshes with Tyner's voicings in interesting ways, and Adams brings a different energy, something grittier. The contrast between solo passages and these duets gives the album shape and variety. You get a sense of Tyner's approach across different contexts.
In his catalog, this sits alongside Revelations (1987) as one of his more introspective recordings. It's not essential listening for newcomers—start with his work from the 1960s if you're new to Tyner. But if you know his playing and want to hear him working in a more intimate setting, exploring what a chord voicing can do without the demands of a full band, this is worth hearing. It's the kind of album that rewards attention without demanding it.
Who's playing
McCoy Tynerpiano
John Scofieldguitar
Where next?
More by McCoy Tyner
All 14 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
