McCoy Tyner had always made albums under his own name during his tenure in saxophonist John Coltrane’s quartet, but it took two years after his departure for him to record again as a leader. This, his Blue Note debut, featured drummer Elvin Jones, who had also left Coltrane’s group; bassist Ron Carter, then working with Miles Davis; and saxophonist Joe Henderson, himself a Blue Note solo artist. (Tyner and Jones had played on Henderson’s albums In ’n’ Out and Inner Urge, both recorded in 1964.) The Real McCoy is a high-flying fireball of a record, opening with the explosive “Passion Dance,” on which both Henderson and Jones take absolutely wailing solos; the drummer’s playing is a wall of fire consuming everything in its path. Even on relatively subdued tracks like “Contemplation” and “Search for Peace,” though, there’s a simmering intensity that never truly lets the listener relax.