TONY WILLIAMS

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

Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential jazz drummers to come to prominence in the 1960s, Williams first gained fame in the band of trumpeter Miles Davis, and was a pioneer of jazz fusion.

Biography

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.

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". 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).

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. Today, 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.

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 was in the midst of a six year hiatus 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.)

With the group Fuse One, he released two albums in 1980 and 1982.

Later career

Although not a long lasting project, in 1979, Tony Williams got together once again with guitarrist John Mclaughlin, and bassist Jaco Pastorius for a one time performace at the Havana Jazz Festival. This trio came to be known as the Trio of Doom, and this performance was recorded and recently released. Previously unreleased, this material opens with a powerful drum improvisation by Tony, followed by Mclaughlin's "Dark Prince" and "Jaco's Continuum," Tony's original composition "Para Oriente" and Maclaughlin's "Are you the one?"

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 1980s and into the early 1990s. 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.

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Tony Williams...

Tony Williams' death in 1997 of a heart attack after routine gall bladder surgery was a major shock to the jazz world. Just 51, Williams (who could be a very loud drummer) seemed so youthful, healthy, and ageless even though he had been a major drummer for nearly 35 years. The open style that he created while with the Miles Davis Quintet in the mid- to late '60s remains quite influential, and he had a long list of accomplishments during the decades that followed. Williams' father, a saxophonist, took his son out to clubs that gave him an opportunity to sit in; at 11, the youngster already showed potential. He took lessons from Alan Dawson, and at 15 was appearing at Boston-area jam sessions. During 1959-1960, Williams often played with Sam Rivers, and in December 1962 (when he was barely 17), the drummer moved to New York and played regularly with Jackie McLean. Within a few months he joined Miles Davis, where his ability to imply the beat while playing quite freely influenced and inspired the other musicians; together with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter he was part of one of the great rhythm sections. Williams, who was 18 when he appeared on Eric Dolphy's classic Out to Lunch album, stayed with Davis into 1969, leading his own occasional sessions and becoming a household name in the jazz world. 

In addition to his interest in avant-garde jazz, Tony Williams was a fan of rock music, and when he left Miles he formed the fusion band Lifetime, a trio with Larry Young and John McLaughlin. After leading other versions of Lifetime (one of them starring Allan Holdsworth), Williams stuck to freelancing for a time, studied composition, and toured with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. band. By the mid-'80s, he was heading his own all-star hard bop group which featured Wallace Roney as a surrogate Miles Davis and a repertoire dominated by the drummer's originals (including the standard "Sister Cheryl"). After breaking up his longtime quintet in 1995, Williams gigged a bit with a trio, recorded a very interesting set of original music for the Ark 21 label, and seemed to have a limitless future. His premature death makes one grateful that he started his career early and that he was extensively documented. 

Source: Scott Yanow

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Simply put, Tony Williams was da bomb! Williams made his mark on jazz when he joined Miles Davis' quintet at the age of 17! (Miles' group was the top group to be in, because the pay was good and the gigs were steady and available. Miles brought Williams on board when Williams was 17--THAT is how good he was!) Technique-wise, he was far ahead of his time. He was the most admired and imitated drummer of the Sixties. His advanced polyrhythms and his whiplash beats propelled Miles Davis' group forward and pushed the limits of freedom for the soloists. Funny thing was, Miles wasn't able to play in some clubs because Williams' youth prevented him from being in certain clubs. Williams rhythmic drive and innovation was one of the primary reasons that Miles Davis' music was rejuvenated in during the Sixties.

Before joining Davis' group, Williams played with Jackie McLean. He left Davis group in 1969 and formed a rock-jazz trio with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young called Lifetime (incredible group!) In 1975, he formed the "New Tony Williams Lifetime" and recorded 3 more albums. From there, he explored a variety of styles. In the early 80s, he studied classical composition. In the late 1980s, he went back to the Sixties style in Davis' group. In 1990, he was commissioned to write a composition for a stringed quartet, piano, drums, and cymbals. His composition was performed in San Francisco and was highly acclaimed. He received the the Arthur M. Solkat Board of Directors Award from Bay Area Music Magazine in 1995. He also received a grammy for best jazz record in 1994. He was named to the Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame and has received numerous "drummer of the year" awards from magazines such as Modern Drummer, Downbeat, and Musician Magazine. He died in 1997.

Source: http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/tonywilliams.html

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Discography

As leader

1964: Life Time (Blue Note)
1965: Spring (Blue Note)
1978: Joy of Flying (Columbia)
1982: Third Plane (Carrere) - with Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock
1985: Foreign Intrigue (Blue Note)
1986: Civilization (Blue Note)
1988: Angel Street (Blue Note)
1989: Native Heart (Blue Note)
1991: The Story of Neptune (Blue Note)
1992: Tokyo Live (Blue Note)
1993: Unmasked (Atlantic)
1996: Wilderness (Ark 21)
1998: Young at Heart (Columbia)

With Tony William Lifetime

1969: Emergency!
1970: Turn It Over
1971: Ego
1972: The Old Bum's Rush
1975: Believe It
1976: Million Dollar Legs

As sideman

Andrew Hill
Point of Departure
Arcana
The Last Wave (1996)
Arc of the Testimony (1997)
Branford Marsalis
Renaissance
Eric Dolphy
Out to Lunch
Grachan Moncur III
Evolution
Some Other Stuff

Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles; Maiden Voyage; My Point of View; Town Hall Concert; V.S.O.P.; V.S.O.P.: The Quintet; V.S.O.P.: Live Under the Sky; V.S.O.P.: Tempest in the Colosseum; Quartet; Herbie Hancock Trio; Future2Future (posthumously)

Jackie McLean: One Step Beyond; Vertigo; New Wine In Old Bottles

Kenny Dorham: Una Mas (1963)

McCoy Tyner: Supertrios

Michel Petrucciani: "Marvellous" (1994)

Miles Davis: Seven Steps to Heaven (1963); Miles Davis in Europe (1963); Four and More (1964); My Funny Valentine; Miles Davis in Tokyo (1964); Miles in Berlin (1964); E.S.P. (1965)
The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel (1965); Miles Smiles (1966); Sorcerer (1966); Nefertiti (1967); Miles in the Sky (1968); Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968); Water Babies; In a Silent Way (1969)

Public Image Limited: "Album" 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

Stanley Clarke: Stanley Clarke

Travis Shook: Travis Shook

Wayne Shorter: The Soothsayer

Weather Report: Mr. Gone

Wynton Marsalis: Wynton Marsalis

References

Allmusic website
Miles The Autobiography, Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Picador 1989, p.254
Allmusic Fuse One Discography