The Tony Williams Lifetime

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The Tony Williams Lifetime was a jazz-rock fusion group led by jazz drummer Tony Williams. It was founded in 1969 as a power trio with John McLaughlin on electric guitar and Larry Young on organ. Its debut album for Polydor Records, Emergency! (1969), was largely rejected by jazz listeners at the time of its release, but eventually became looked upon as a classic of the fusion genre. (Williams' debut album as a bandleader, released on Blue Note in 1964, was coincidentally titled Life Time but has no relation to the fusion group.) Jack Bruce joined the group to provide electric bass and vocals on its next album, Turn It Over (1970). McLaughlin then left the group and was replaced on guitar by Ted Dunbar for their third album, Ego (1970) (Jimmy Smith's guitarist Nathan Page turned the job down after one rehearsal). The fourth and last Lifetime album for Polydor, The Old Bum's Rush (1972), featured an entirely new personnel (aside from Williams himself) and a keyboard-heavy sound. It received poor reviews, and the group was effectively dissolved for several years.

In 1975, Williams put together a quartet he called "The New Tony Williams Lifetime," featuring bassist Tony Newton, pianist Alan Pasqua, and English guitarist Allan Holdsworth, which recorded two albums for Columbia Records, Believe It (1975) and Million Dollar Legs (1976). These albums were released together on a single CD in 1992 under the title Lifetime: The Collection.

[edit] Musicians

Founding members:

John McLaughlin - (guitar)
Larry Young - (organ)
Tony Williams - (drums)

Other members:

Jack Bruce - (bass, vocals)
Ted Dunbar - (guitar)

"The New Tony Williams Lifetime":

Allan Holdsworth - (guitar)
Tony Newton - (bass)
Alan Pasqua - (keyboards)
Tony Williams - (drums)

[edit] Influence and Tributes

Since the death of Williams in 1997, Jack DeJohnette and John Scofield formed Trio Beyond with Larry Goldings in honour of The Tony Williams Lifetime. They have released one album, Saudades, on the german ECM label, 2006.

John Zorn named The Tony Williams Lifetime as a specific musical inspiration in the liner notes of the Naked City album Radio.