Tony Williams

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For other people named Tony Williams, see Anthony Williams.

Anthony Tillmon "Tony" Williams (December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997) was an American jazz drummer.

Widely regarded[1] as one of the most important and influential jazz drummers to come to prominence in the '60s, Williams first gained fame in the band of trumpeter Miles Davis, and was a pioneer of jazz fusion.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Chicago and growing up in Boston, Williams began studies with drummer Alan Dawson at an early age and began playing professionally at the age of 13 with saxophonist Sam Rivers. Saxophonist Jackie McLean hired Williams at 16.

[edit] With Miles Davis

At 17 Williams found considerable fame with Miles Davis, joining a group that was later dubbed Davis's "Second Great Quintet." His first album as a leader, 1964's Life Time (not to be confused with the name of his band "Lifetime," which he formed several years later) was recorded during his tenure with Davis.

Williams was a vital element of the group, called by Davis in his autobiography "the center that the group's sound revolved around" (Miles The Autobiography, Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Picador 1989, p.254). His inventive playing helped redefine the role of jazz rhythm section through the use of polyrhythms and metric modulation (transitioning between mathematically related tempos and/or time signatures). But perhaps his overarching achievement was in demonstrating, through his playing, that the drummer need not be relegated to timekeeping and accompaniment in a jazz ensemble, rather the drummer may be free to contribute to the performance as an equal partner in the improvisation.

[edit] Tony Williams Lifetime

In 1969, he formed a trio, "The Tony Williams Lifetime," with John McLaughlin on guitar, and Larry Young on organ. Jack Bruce on bass was added later. It was a pioneering band of the fusion movement, a combination of rock, R&B, and jazz. Their first album, Emergency!, was largely rejected by the jazz community at the time of its release. However, Miles Davis was so impressed with the album and its highly experimental direction that he asked to head the group as his own; Williams declined.[citation needed] Nowadays, Emergency! is considered by many to be a fusion classic.

After McLaughlin's departure, and several more albums, Lifetime disbanded. In 1975, Williams put together a band 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 and Million Dollar Legs respectively.

[edit] V.S.O.P.

In mid 1976, Williams was a part of a reunion of sorts with his old Miles Davis band compatriots, pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Miles backed out of the reunion at the last minute and was replaced by Freddie Hubbard. The record was later released as V.S.O.P. ("Very Special OneTime Performance") and was highly instrumental in increasing the popularity of acoustic jazz. The group went on to tour and record for several years, releasing a series of live albums under the name "V.S.O.P." or "The V.S.O.P. Quintet." (The CD reissues of these albums are sold under Herbie Hancock's name - making things a bit confusing since the original V.S.O.P. album, which alone was a Hancock album, is not currently available on CD.)

[edit] Later career

In 1985, Williams recorded an album for Blue Note Records entitled Foreign Intrigue, which featured the playing of pianist Mulgrew Miller and trumpeter Wallace Roney. Later that year he formed a quintet with Miller and Roney which also featured tenor and soprano saxophonist Bill Pierce and bassist Charnett Moffett (later Ira Coleman). This band played Williams' compositions almost exclusively (the Lennon/McCartney song "Blackbird", the standard "Poinciana", and the Freddie Hubbard blues "Birdlike" being the exceptions) and toured and recorded throughout the remainder of the '80s and into the early '90s. This rhythm section also recorded as a trio.

Williams also played drums for the band Public Image Limited fronted by former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon on their 1986 released album/cassette/compact disc (the album title varied depending on the format). He played on the songs "FFF", "Rise" (a modest hit) and "Home". Bill Laswell (see below) co-wrote those 3 songs with Lydon. Interestingly, the other drummer on that album was Ginger Baker, who played in Cream with Jack Bruce, who was the bass player with the Tony Williams Lifetime.

Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death from a heart attack following routine gall bladder surgery. One of his final recordings was Arcana, a release organized by prolific bass guitarist Bill Laswell.

A track on the Miles Davis boxed set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (which is also featured on Davis' album Water Babies), "Dual Mr Anthony Tillmon Williams Process", is named after Williams.

Tony Williams had stated that he was a fan of Metallica and was planning on creating a Heavy Metal band but died before any further developments were made.

[edit] Selected discography

Andrew Hill
Arcana
  • The Last Wave
  • Arc of the Testimony
As leader
  • Life Time
  • Spring
  • The Joy Of Flying
  • Foreign Intrigue
  • Civilization
  • Angel Street
  • Native Heart
  • The Story of Neptune
  • Tokyo Live
  • Wilderness
  • Young at Heart
Eric Dolphy
Grachan Moncur III
  • Evolution
  • Some Other Stuff
Herbie Hancock
Jackie McLean
  • One Step Beyond
  • Vertigo
  • New Wine In Old Bottles
Kenny Dorham
  • Una Mas (1963)
McCoy Tyner
  • Supertrios
Miles Davis
Public Image Limited
  • "Album/Cassette/Compact Disc" tracks 1,2 & 6
Ray Manzarek, Larry Carlton, Jerry Scheff
  • The Golden Scarab
Ron Carter
  • Third Plane
  • Etudes
Sam Rivers
  • Fuchsia Swing Song
Stan Getz
  • Captain Marvel
Travis Shook
  • Travis Shook
Tony Williams Lifetime
  • Emergency!
  • Turn It Over
  • Ego
  • The Old Bum's Rush
  • Believe It
  • Million Dollar Legs
V.S.O.P.
Wayne Shorter
  • The Soothsayer
Wynton Marsalis
  • Wynton Marsalis

[edit] References

  1. ^ allmusic ((( Tony Williams > Overview )))

[edit] External links