It’s not every book that gets launched with a live concert…and out of those that do, I’m willing to bet that very few of them have that concert simulcast. But that’s what’ll be going down at the legendary Blue Note club tonight, when pianist McCoy Tyner (left) brings his new septet out on stage to honor Impulse! Records and The House That Trane Built, a history of the label written by jazz historian Ashley Kahn. Tyner first rose to prominence playing with John Coltrane on Impulse! (including the classic A Love Supreme album) and had already begun making solo recordings for the label before striking out on his own in the late ’60s. His new ensemble was created as part of a multi-faceted tribute to the 45th anniversary of the label’s founding; the Verve Music Group will also resurrect the Impulse! name for a 4-CD retrospective which shares its title with Kahn’s book, along with ten “best of” discs spotlighting artist such as Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, and Keith Jarrett (plus, of course, Coltrane and Tyner).
Tonight’s Blue Note concert starts at 9:30 p.m.; tickets are $40, but if that’s too steep (we know how it is, we work in publishing ourselves!), it will be broadcast on WBGO, 88.3 FM. Kahn will also be appearing with Tyner, Chico Hamilton, and Ravi Coltrane at the B&N at Lincoln Center on June 13.