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Ask McCoy Tyner for advice about jazz and you're just as likely to wind up with a life lesson.
As the master himself points out, wisdom that applies to the storied musical form can usually be applied to everyday life just as easily.
"It is hard to separate the two," Tyner says over the phone from his home in Manhattan. "Jazz is just like life."
When asked what makes a jazz musician great, for instance, Tyner offers up the same advice he gives to piano students who solicit his wisdom.
"You can't just sit down and say, 'I'm going to make a difference,'" he says. "You have to be true to yourself ... Leave room for your own musical identity and leave room for your own quests. You'll find they can contribute to the whole thing."
Tyner was introduced to jazz as a junior high student in Philadelphia, where piano legend Bud Powell was a neighbour. He took up lessons around the same time, and proved a quick study.
"My mother was a beautician, and she had a number of clients with pianos," he explains. "I'd alternate on their pianos and after about a year, I had one of my own."
His skill caught the attention of arranger/sax player Benny Golson and before long, Tyner was playing with Golson and Art Farmer's Jazztet.
It was around that time Tyner made his first acquaintance with John Coltrane, who became a big brother to him and eventually enlisted him as a collaborator.
It was Tyner who tickled the ivories on Coltrane's iconic A Love Supreme, a recording that's gone on to touch even those who aren't well-versed in jazz.
"It had a very spiritual element," Tyner says of the record's near-universal appeal.
"(Coltrane) really wanted to do something that would identify his spiritual quest on a personal level. He wanted to dedicate it to a supreme being. He felt like he had been assisted by a higher power, so this was a spiritual thank-you."
Tyner was never overshadowed by the wildly innovative Coltrane and continues to this day to make waves as a performer who's always got something up his sleeve.
On 2004's Illuminations, for instance, he somewhat surprisingly takes a backseat to players like Terence Blanchard and altoist Gary Bartz.
Not surprisingly, he justifies the decision with wisdom that rings true even outside the jazz realm.
"Being supportive and playing a supportive role, you can learn more from being in that position than trying to be prominent and predominant all the time," he says. "Being humble about it, but also aggressive when you have to -- there's nothing wrong with that."
Tickets for tonight's show are $45 through Ticketmaster.