Tony Williams wasn't famous when he was recruited to join one of the most inventive and accomplished ensembles in music history. He was seventeen years old. And that ensemble was led by Miles Davis.Nothing else even needs to be said to explain who Tony Williams was and what his role in the music world meant. But I'll say more anyway. I owe Tony Williams a LOT.
From 1961 up to his far too early death in 1997, Tony Williams performed and recorded with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius, Hank Jones, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Clarke, Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy, Gil Evans, Kenny Dorham, Marcus Miller, Sam Rivers, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joe Henderson, Mulgrew Miller, Andrew Hill, and Weather Report, and led his own bands, most notably The Tony Williams Lifetime.
His father was a professional saxophonist, which of course played an important part in influencing and bringing up young Tony. After seeing prodigious talent in his eight year old son, Tony's father took him to jazz clubs where he was allowed to sit in. By age eleven, he was enrolled in private lessons at Berklee with the legendary Alan Dawson. By thirteen, he was playing with renowned saxophonist Sam Rivers. At sixteen, he was playing professionally with Jackie McLean. That obviously made an impression on Miles Davis, because only a year later, he was invited to join Miles' second great quintet and make history. That group rewrote jazz history on a daily basis and proved to be one of the most resilient bands in the genre. With Miles Davis, Tony Williams recorded around seventeen albums and reshaped and reconfigured the direction of music in the process.
Tony Williams was the first jazz drummer I got into. I bought Miles Davis' album Seven Steps to Heaven at a Streetside Records that used to exist a few miles from my house. I was just getting into jazz, and already had Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme, but I wanted something a little more modern sounding. I remember buying that album when I was twelve years old while my mom was next door at Wal Mart. I took it up to the counter, paid for it, then took it to one of the listening stations so I could check it out and read the liner notes. I read liner notes religiously. Tony Williams' playing on Joshua and the title track floored me. Blew me away. He could seamlessly changed time signatures in the middle of a tune. He could play a blazing fast tempo with tons of comping and never let the time or the energy start to slip. The dark sound of his ride cymbal was like a wash of music coming at you. I told my drum instructor Rich Hensley that I had I bought that album and said "I want to play like Tony Williams." He laughed and said "So do I." He told me that I would love the album Miles Smiles.
I bought that and heard Footprints. Now, no disrespect to the rest of the quintet on that recording, but you could strip away everything except the drums and be knocked out by that song. You could even strip away everything except the ride cymbal and it's still powerful and impressive. One word: polyrhythms. Learn it.So I heard Footprints. And Tony Williams' playing had completely changed me. Completely. I was twelve years old and I wanted to be a jazz drummer. It really shaped the way I play. Having no real good knowledge of exactly what he was doing, I learned all of Tony's fills that I could and incorporated them into my playing. I believe that getting into Tony Williams at such a young age is what gave me an energetic and assertive style of playing. When I was in my first semester at Webster University, Paul DeMarinis told me that my playing always had attitude, and I have to credit Tony Williams for that.
On your CD:1. Maiden Voyage – Herbie Hancock
2. Seven Steps to Heaven – Miles Davis
3. Joshua – Miles Davis
4. Footprints – Miles Davis
5. Freedom Jazz Dance – Miles Davis
6. Black Comedy – Miles Davis
7. Frelon Brun – Miles Davis
8. Agitation – Miles Davis
9. Pee Wee – Miles Davis
10. Marney – Jackie McLean
11. Para Oriente – Trio of Doom
Discography with Miles Davis:
Seven Steps to Heave (1963)
Miles Davis in Europe (1963)
Four & More (1964)
My Funny Valentine (1964)
Miles in Tokyo (1964)
Miles in Berlin (1964)
E.S.P. (1965)
The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel (1965)
Miles Smiles (1966)
Directions (1967, 1968)
Sorcerer (1967)
Nefertiti (1967)
Water Babies (1967, 1968)
Circle in the Round (1967, 1968)
Miles in the Sky (1968)
The Complete Miles Davis–Gil Evans Studio Recordings – four takes of 'Falling Water' (1968)
Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968)
In a Silent Way (1969)
VIDEOS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTfBpKzu6XA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40smfOyIso&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzkZ8Ikr9L4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3FpC6mcb-w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDu6w66F5dU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NLNaGMyTjI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7FNeMzIm80&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVf9McCjT3s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KMT--JWQwk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxyiNopn08w
LINKS:
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Tony_Williams.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Williams
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p7832
http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=920671037
http://www.drum-videos.com/drummers/tony-williams
http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/mclaughlin/art/final.html
http://www.freedrumlessons.com/drummers/tony-williams.php
Solo & Transcription from "Moose the Mooche" by Great Jazz Trio
http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/showthread.php?32100-Tony-Williams-transcription
