Alfred McCoy Tyner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy award winner. Unlike many of the jazz keyboardists of his generation, Tyner very rarely incorporated electric keyboards or synthesizers into his work. Tyner has been widely imitated, and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time.
Tyner in 1973
Tyner at Keystone Korner in San Francisco, in March 1981
Tyner with Ravi Coltrane at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, in August 2005
Tyner with his quartet at Jazz Alley in Seattle, in April 2012
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities. For this reason it is an important tool of jazz musicians and composers for teaching and learning jazz theory and set arrangement, regardless of their main instrument. By extension the phrase 'jazz piano' can refer to similar techniques on any keyboard instrument.
Thelonious Monk in 1947
Bill Evans performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, with Henry Ragas on piano