McCoy Tyner has played with everybody who's anybody in jazz. But Monday, the spotlight is his.

Monday night at Schwab Auditorium, The McCoy Tyner Trio will be performing with special guest and acclaimed jazz violinist John Blake Jr. The concert is the first in a planned series of events put on by the Africana Research Institute and the Institute for Arts and Humanities titled, "In Pursuit of Social Justice: Recognizing Pennsylvania Black Artists."

Beverly Vandiver, director of the Africana Research Institute, said Tyner perfectly exemplifies what the two groups wanted to kick off its series.

"We wanted somebody who's been doing outstanding work and continues to," Vandiver said. "He has a style that, even at an academic level, professors still talk about."

Tyner got his start playing gigs around his native Philadelphia before joining the famed John Coltrane Quartet in 1960. Tyner played with Coltrane for five years, joining the saxophone legend on such classic albums as Giant Steps and A Love Supreme.

Through various gigs with other jazz greats, and leading his own trio through his innumerable famed solo records, Tyner has remained a vital force in jazz.

Chris Byrne, faculty advisor to the Penn State Jazz Club, said that though it was Coltrane's name on those famed records, McCoy's part in the process of creating them should be just as celebrated.

"His piano was just as important to that sound as Coltrane's sax," Byrne said. "Just like every sax player since Coltrane has studied Coltrane, every piano player since McCoy Tyner studies McCoy."

Laura Knoppers, director of the Institute for Arts and Humanities, said violinist John Blake Jr. holds quite an impressive résumé himself for a young jazz musician.

"He holds a faculty position at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, he lectures widely and he wrote the definitive book on string-jazz instruction," Knoppers said. "And, to top it off, he's actually been widely acclaimed as a jazz violinist, which is quite unusual."

Byrne emphasized how rare it is to have a violin player in a jazz setting.

"There are very few jazz violinists, so even if he's influenced all of them, it means he's influenced five or 10," Byrne said. "But he's an amazing musician."

Byrne explained that Tyner's band, which features many generations of players, speaks to a strength of jazz music.

"That's the thing about jazz," Byrne said. "You're always playing with someone better than you who brings you up, but you're also teaching someone, too. It keeps things moving."

And, as Byrne said, Tyner will not disappoint.

"McCoy is known for his incredibly energetic music," Byrne said. "It's not some rinkydink old-time show. People will be enthused."