There’s a short list of jazz icons who have left an indelible stamp on the music, an even shorter list of those who are still around, still touring, still transporting their audiences. When they come our way, we ought to go see them if we can.

Pianist McCoy Tyner celebrated his 70th birthday last December with a weeklong celebration at the Blue Note jazz club in New York City. His current tour brings him to Orchestra Hall on Thursday night. The only surviving member of John Coltrane’s legendary quartet (that’s Tyner you hear on "A Love Supreme" and "My Favorite Things"), Tyner is a multiple Grammy winner, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, composer, bandleader, and solo artist with a career spanning five decades and nearly 80 albums.

He has big hands and he knows how to use them, booming with the left and thundering with the right, playing octaves and block chords and lavishly textured harmonies. His sound can range from room-filling turbulence to tender notes that make you lean forward in your seat and hold your breath.

On Thursday he’ll appear with a quartet of musicians he knows well: Gary Bartz on alto saxophone, Gerald L. Cannon on bass, and drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt, who lives in St. Paul. Bartz has played with Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis; Cannon with Roy Hargrove, Elvin Jones, and Wynton Marsalis; Gravatt is a Weather Report alum who now heads his own band, Source Code, heard a couple of times each year at the Artists’ Quarter.

Here’s a slightly squashed video from German television of the same quartet we’ll see here, performing at the Viersen Jazz Festival in 2007.

Tyner isn’t giving many interviews -- he gave one to Britt Robson for the Star Tribune; read it here  -- but I did have the opportunity to email him a couple of questions. You can read his bio online. I thought it would be more interesting to ask forward-looking questions than backward-looking questions. See if you agree.

MinnPost: As one of the shapers of jazz -- as someone who has played a major role in its history and development and sound -- what does the future of jazz look like to you? I’m thinking of this within the context of jazz clubs closing, jazz radio stations going off the air, labels folding, artists (including you) starting their own labels, and the whole music business rapidly changing. And, simultaneously, jazz education booming.

McCoy Tyner: Well, I think the fact that jazz education has been booming for some time is a good indication of the scene. As long as there are young people playing the music, then it will carry on to the next generation, and I think that’s the most important thing. It’s always been the case that in jazz, the older generation passes down their knowledge of the music to the younger generation.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have jazz education in school, really. We learned from buying records and going to see our heroes play, then asking them questions afterwards or maybe sitting in. We didn’t have books with all sorts of songs in them, you would learn tunes off the records and then play them with your peers. So that’s what we did, and a lot of musicians, like Art Blakey, brought us young musicians on tour with their bands. Benny Golson took me out on tour with the Jazztet right before I went with Coltrane.

I also try to employ younger guys who are in the process of developing or already have their own sound. Eric Alexander is one guy who I’ve played with over the last few years who is really coming into his own. So is Christian Scott, a young trumpeter who has played with me as a guest from time to time. I feel like as long as there are young people learning about the music, then people will be willing to hear what they have to say, and the music will continue.

MP: Most people would think that you have done it all. What else do you want to do, or plan to do?

MT: I’ve always been somebody who tries to look ahead at whatever is next, but also enjoy what I’m doing right now. I tend not to look backwards. People always ask me if I listen to my recordings. I’ll usually give one a listen after it comes out and then put it away. I’ve got a stack of all my CDs in my house but I rarely take them out unless I need to re-visit some of the songs I wrote -- I’ve written so many that it’s hard to remember them all! Sometimes if I have a gig coming up and I want to play an older tune I’ll listen to the recording, but other than that I don’t have much use for them.

I focus on what I’m doing today. As far as what else can I do, well, there’s always more to be done. You can’t stand still -- you’ve got to keep moving forward. I’m not sure what the next move will be, but I’m looking forward to it!

McCoy Tyner Quartet, Thursday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. Orchestra Hall ($45/$65 VIP). On Sunday, a limited number of main floor seats were available for $25. Mention or enter code 25MAIN when ordering and see what happens.

Pamela Espeland tweets a daily jazz calendar on Twitter and blogs about jazz at Bebopified. Find Twin Cities jazz calendars and more jazz news online at Jazz Police. In the Main Menu at the left, click on Twin Cities. Jazz radio station KBEM 88.5FM posts a live music calendar each week; view it online in the Events menu.