Tony Williams

Anthony Tillmon Williams (December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997) was an American jazz drummer. Williams first gained fame as a member of Miles Davis's "Second Great Quintet", and later pioneered jazz fusion with Davis's group and his own combo, The Tony Williams Lifetime. In 1970, music critic Robert Christgau described him as "probably the best drummer in the world". Williams was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1997.

Life and career Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He was of African, Portuguese, and Chinese descent. He studied with drummer Alan Dawson at the age of 11, and began playing professionally at the age of 13 with saxophonist Sam Rivers. Saxophonist Jackie McLean hired Williams when he, Williams, was 16. As a young drummer, he was influenced by Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, Louis Hayes, and Jimmy Cobb.

At 17, Williams joined Miles Davis in what was later dubbed Davis's Second Great Quintet—with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and bassist Ron Carter. Davis had been in something of a creative lull, and critics noted the young Tony Williams' playing spurred the others on. Williams was a vital element of the group, called by Davis in his autobiography "the center that the group's sound revolved around". His playing helped redefine the role of the jazz rhythm section through the use of polyrhythms and metric modulation. Meanwhile, he recorded his first two albums as a leader for the Blue Note label: Life Time (1964) and Spring (1965). He also recorded as a sideman for the label including the classics Out to Lunch! with Eric Dolphy and Point of Departure with Andrew Hill, both in 1964.

In 1969 Williams formed The Tony Williams Lifetime, with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ. thumb leftIn 1979, Williams, McLaughlin, and bassist Jaco Pastorius united for a performance at the Havana Jazz Festival.

In 1985, Williams returned to Blue Note with the album Foreign Intrigue. Eventually Williams formed his own acoustic quintet with trumpeter Wallace Roney, saxophonist Bill Pierce, pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Ira Coleman. The quintet played Williams' compositions almost exclusively, recording and touring extensively from 1986 to 1992, culminating in the album The Story of Neptune.

Williams guested with the band Public Image Ltd, fronted by John Lydon, on their release titled Album (1986).

On February 20, 1997, Williams checked into Seton Medical Center in Daly City, California, suffering from stomach pain. Three days later, while recuperating from gallbladder surgery, he died of a heart attack. He was 51 years old.

Personal life Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death in 1997. One of his final recordings was The Last Wave by the trio known as Arcana, a release organized by Bill Laswell.

Discography As leader/co-leader Recording date Title Label Year released Notes 1964-08 Life Time Blue Note 1965 1965-08 Spring Blue Note 1966 1969-05 Emergency! Verve 1969 1970-07 Turn It Over Verve 1970 1971-02, 1971-03 Ego Polydor 1971 1972? The Old Bum's Rush Polydor 1972 1975-07 Believe It Columbia 1975 1976-06 Million Dollar Legs Columbia 1976 1976-09 Live at The Village Gate Hi Hat 2017 Live; bootleg recording 1978-06 Live Tokyo 1978 Hi Hat 2018 Live; bootleg recording 1979 The Joy of Flying Columbia 1978 1980-06 Play or Die with Tom Grant and Patrick O'Hearn P.S. Productions 1980 1985-06 Foreign Intrigue Blue Note 1985 1986-11 Civilization Blue Note 1987 1988-04 Angel Street Blue Note 1988 1989-09 Native Heart Blue Note 1990 1991-11, 1991-12 The Story of Neptune Blue Note 1992 1992-03 Tokyo Live Blue Note 1993 [2CD] Live 1995-12 Wilderness Ark 21 1996 1996-09 Young at Heart Columbia 1997 Collaboration With Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Wallace Roney A Tribute to Miles (Qwest/Reprise/Warner Bros., 1994) – rec. 1992 , 1994 Compilation Lifetime: The Collection (Columbia, 1992) [2CD] – combined Believe It (1975) and Million Dollar Legs (1976)

As a member

The Great Jazz Trio With Hank Jones and Ron Carter I'm Old Fashioned with Sadao Watanabe (East Wind, 1976) Love for Sale (East Wind, 1976) The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard (East Wind, 1977) The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (East Wind, 1977) Kindness Joy Love & Happiness (East Wind, 1977) Bird of Paradise with Sadao Watanabe (Flying Disk, 1977) Milestones (East Wind, 1978) New Wine in Old Bottles with Jackie McLean (East Wind, 1978) Direct from L.A. (East Wind, 1978) Carnaval with Sadao Watanabe (Galaxy, 1978) The Great Tokyo Meeting (East Wind, 1978) The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard Again (East Wind, 2000) – rec. 1977. posthumous release.

Trio of Doom With Jaco Pastorius and John McLaughlin Trio of Doom (Columbia Legacy, 2007) – rec. 1979. posthumous release.

Arcana With Derek Bailey and Bill Laswell The Last Wave (DIW, 1996) – rec. 1995 Arc of the Testimony also with Pharoah Sanders (Axiom/Island, 1997) – posthumous release

As sideman

With Chet Baker You Can't Go Home Again (Horizon, 1977) Chet Baker / Wolfgang Lackerschmid with Wolfgang Lackerschmid (Sandra Music Productions, 1980) – rec. 1979 The Best Thing for You (A&M, 1989) – rec. 1977

With Ron Carter Third Plane (Milestone, 1978) 1 + 3 (JVC, 1979) – live rec. 1978 Parade (Milestone, 1980) – rec. 1979 Carnaval (Galaxy, 1983) – live rec. 1978 Etudes (Elektra/Musician, 1983) – rec. 1982

With Miles Davis Seven Steps to Heaven (Columbia, 1963) Miles Davis in Europe (Columbia, 1963) Four & More (Columbia, 1964) My Funny Valentine: Miles Davis in Concert (Columbia, 1964) Miles in Berlin (CBS, 1964) E.S.P. (Columbia, 1965) Miles Smiles (Columbia, 1967) Sorcerer (Columbia, 1967) Nefertiti (Columbia, 1967) Miles in the Sky (Columbia, 1968) Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968) Miles in Tokyo (CBS/Sony, 1969) – rec. 1964 In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969) Water Babies (Columbia, 1976) – rec. 1967–1968 Circle in the Round (Columbia, 1979) – rec. 1967–1968 Directions (Columbia, 1981) – rec. 1967–1968 The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (Columbia Legacy, 1995) – rec. 1965 Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings – four takes of "Falling Water" (Columbia Legacy, 1996) – rec. 1968 Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (Columbia Legacy, 2012) Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia Legacy, 2015)

With Tommy Flanagan The Master Trio (Baybridge, 1983) Blues in the Closet (Baybridge, 1983)

With Herbie Hancock My Point of View (Blue Note, 1963) Empyrean Isles (Blue Note, 1964) Maiden Voyage (Blue Note, 1965) V.S.O.P. (Columbia, 1977) – rec. 1976 V.S.O.P.: The Quintet (Columbia, 1977) V.S.O.P.: Tempest in the Colosseum (CBS/Sony, 1977) Herbie Hancock Trio (CBS/Sony, 1977) Sunlight (Columbia, 1978) V.S.O.P.: Live Under the Sky (CBS/Sony, 1979) Mr. Hands (Columbia, 1980) Herbie Hancock Trio (Columbia, 1982) – rec. 1981 Quartet (CBS/Sony, 1982) One Night with Blue Note Preserved (Blue Note, 1985) Round Midnight (soundtrack) (Columbia, 1986) – rec. 1985 Future 2 Future (Transparent Music, 2001)

With Jackie McLean One Step Beyond (Blue Note, 1964) – rec. 1963 Vertigo (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1959-1963

With Grachan Moncur III Evolution (Blue Note, 1964) – rec. 1963 Some Other Stuff (Blue Note, 1965) – rec. 1964

With Sonny Rollins Easy Living (Milestone, 1977) Don't Stop the Carnival (Milestone, 1978) – live No Problem (Milestone, 1982) – rec. 1981

With McCoy Tyner Supertrios (Milestone, 1977) Passion Dance (Milestone, 1978) – live Counterpoints (Milestone, 2004) – rec. 1978

With others Geri Allen, Twenty One (Blue Note, 1994) George Cables, Phantom of the City (Contemporary, 1985) Stanley Clarke, Stanley Clarke (Nemperor, 1974) Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch! (Blue Note, 1964) Kenny Dorham, Una Mas (Blue Note, 1964) Gil Evans, There Comes a Time (RCA, 1976) Hal Galper, Now Hear This (Enja, 1977) Stan Getz, Captain Marvel (Columbia, 1972) Dexter Gordon, The Other Side of Round Midnight (Blue Note, 1986) Jonas Hellborg and the Soldier String Quartet, The Word (Axiom, 1991) Joe Henderson, Relaxin' at Camarillo (Contemporary, 1981) Andrew Hill, Point of Departure (Blue Note, 1965) Terumasa Hino, May Dance (Flying Disk, 1977) Allan Holdsworth, Atavachron – Looking Glass (Enigma, 1986) Charles Lloyd, Of Course, Of Course (Columbia, 1965) Michael Mantler, Movies (Watt, 1978) Ray Manzarek, The Golden Scarab (Mercury, 1973) Branford Marsalis, Renaissance (Columbia, 1987) Wynton Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis (Columbia, 1981) John McLaughlin, Electric Guitarist (Columbia, 1978) Marcus Miller, The Sun Don't Lie (PRA, 1993) Mulgrew Miller, The Countdown (Landmark, 1989) Yoko Ono, Starpeace (PolyGram, 1985) Michel Petrucciani, Marvellous (Dreyfus, 1994) Pop Workshop, Song For The Pterodactyl (Grammofonverket, 1974) Public Image Limited, Album (Virgin, 1985) Don Pullen, New Beginnings (Blue Note, 1988) Sam Rivers, Fuchsia Swing Song (Blue Note, 1964) Wallace Roney, Verses (Muse, 1987) Carlos Santana, The Swing of Delight (Columbia, 1980) Travis Shook, Travis Shook (Columbia, 1993) Wayne Shorter, The Soothsayer (Blue Note, 1979) Weather Report, Mr. Gone (Columbia, 1978)