Tony Williams (drummer)

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

Williams first gained fame as a member of Miles Davis' " Second Great Quintet", and later pioneered jazz fusion with Davis' 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.

Life and career

Williams was born in Chicago and grew up in Boston. He is of African, Portuguese, and Chinese descent. He studied 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 when he was 16.

At 17 in 1963 Williams gained attention by joining Miles Davis in what was later dubbed Davis's Second Great Quintet. 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 leader for Blue Note label, '' Life Time'' (1964) and ''Spring'' (1965). He also recorded as a sideman for the label including, in 1964, ''Out to Lunch!'' with Eric Dolphy and '' Point of Departure'' with Andrew Hill.

In 1969, he formed a trio, the Tony Williams Lifetime, with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ. Lifetime was a pioneering band of the fusion movement.

Their first album was ''Emergency!''. After the departures of McLaughlin and bassist Jack Bruce, who had joined the group for its second album, and several more releases, 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''.

In mid-1976, Williams was a part of a reunion with his colleagues from the Miles Davis band: keyboardist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Davis 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''. The group toured for several years and a series of live albums were released under the name "V.S.O.P." or " V.S.O.P.: The Quintet".

In 1979, Williams, McLaughlin and bassist Jaco Pastorius united for a one-time performance at the Havana Jazz Festival. This trio came to be known as the Trio of Doom, and a recording of their performance (along with some studio tracks recorded in New York shortly thereafter) was released in 2007. It opens with a powerful drum improvisation by Williams, followed by McLaughlin's "Dark Prince" and Pastorius' "Continuum", Williams's original composition "Para Oriente" and McLaughlin's "Are You the One?" Williams and Pastorius had also played together on the Herbie Hancock track "Good Question" from his 1978 album ''Sunlight''. With the group Fuse One, Williams released an album in 1980.

In 1985, he returned to Blue Note and the result was a series of recordings for the label beginning with ''Foreign Intrigue'', which featured the playing of pianist Mulgrew Miller and trumpeter Wallace Roney. Later that year he formed a quintet with Miller, Roney, saxophonist Bill Pierce, and bassist Charnett Moffett (later Ira Coleman). This band played Williams's compositions almost exclusively. Williams also played drums for the band Public Image Limited, fronted by John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols), on their release '' Album/Cassette/Compact Disc'' (1986, the album title varied depending on the format). He played on the songs "FFF", "Rise" (a modest hit), and "Home". Bass guitarist Bill Laswell co-wrote those three songs with Lydon. The other drummer on that album was Ginger Baker.

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

Personal life

Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death from a heart attack following routine gallbladder surgery. 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

* '' Life Time'' (Blue Note, 1964)
* ''Spring'' (Blue Note, 1966) – recorded in 1965
* ''Emergency!'' (Verve, 1969)
* '' Turn It Over'' (Verve, 1970)
* '' Ego'' (Polydor, 1971)
* ''The Old Bum's Rush'' (Polydor, 1972)
* '' Believe It'' (Columbia, 1975)
* '' Million Dollar Legs'' (Columbia, 1976)
* ''The Joy of Flying'' (Columbia, 1979)
* ''Play or Die'' with Tom Grant and Patrick O'Hearn (P.S. Productions, 1980)
* ''Foreign Intrigue'' (Blue Note, 1985)
* ''Civilization'' (Blue Note, 1987) – recorded in 1986
* ''Angel Street'' (Blue Note, 1988)
* ''Native Heart'' (Blue Note, 1990) – recorded in 1989
* ''The Story of Neptune'' (Blue Note, 1992) – recorded in 1991
* ''Tokyo Live'' (Blue Note, 1993) CD– live recorded in 1992
* '' A Tribute to Miles'' with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Wallace Roney (Qwest/Reprise/Warner Bros., 1994)
* ''Wilderness'' (Ark 21, 1996) – recorded in 1995
* ''Young at Heart'' (Columbia, 1996)

Compilation
* '' Lifetime: The Collection'' (Columbia, 1992) CD– combined '' Believe It'' (1975) and '' Million Dollar Legs'' (1976)

Posthumous releases
* ''Live at The Village Gate'' (Hi Hat, 2017) – live recorded in 1976
* ''Live Tokyo 1978'' (Hi Hat, 2018) – live recorded in 1978

As group

The Great Jazz Trio

With Hank Jones and Ron Carter
* ''I'm Old Fashioned'' (East Wind, 1976) with Sadao Watanabe
* '' Love for Sale'' (East Wind, 1976)
* ''The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard

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