While in Coltrane's group, he recorded albums in a piano trio. In late 1962 and the first half of 1963, Tyner was asked by producer Bob Thiele to record more straightforward jazz albums as a leader. These albums included "Reaching Fourth" (1963), "Today and Tomorrow" (1964), and "McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington" (1965). Reviewing the album in 2017, Marc Myers of JazzWax said, "...the finest of these straightforward piano recordings was "Nights of Ballads & Blues". Tyner's playing is exciting and exceptional on all of the tracks... On the album, he exhibits a reserved elegance and tenderness that reveals the other side of his personality—a lover of melody and standards. In this regard, there are traces of Oscar Peterson in his playing. Perhaps Thiele was using Tyner to take a bite out of Peterson's vast and successful early-'60s share of the jazz market." Tyner also appeared as a sideman on many Blue Note albums of the 1960s, although he was often credited as "etc." on the cover of these albums to respect his contract with Impulse!.