Tony Williams

Re: Tony Williams - where to start?

Some great suggestions. Where to start is a good question- I haven't listened to + Four & More for a long time; that's as good a place as any and his ride playing alone should be framed. VSOP was the first album where I heard Tony's playing. I was listening to a lot of fusion/prog rock music at the time, and (for me) he blew all of those type of players out of the water.

Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, shows an abstract side to Tony, who was only 18 at the time of the recording. The way breaks up the time is uncanny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywDhdCEgSyQ&feature=related

Also, to get a better idea of where he was coming from, you could listen to the people he was heavily influenced by: Art Blakey (his sense of swing), Max Roach (his technique and melodic sense), Philly Joe (his creativity), Roy Haynes (the way he spread the time) and Alan Dawson (who helped formally develop his playing). I would mention Elvin, except that I hear a kind of parallel development in their playing.

And as a baby boomer who came of age in the '60s, he was influenced by the Beatles and a lot of rock drummers like Moon, Bonham & Charlie Watts (who certainly idolized him). You can hear how their approach crept into his playing in some of his later Lifetime stuff.

Oh yeah- don't forget the bass players. From Richard Davis, Ron Carter, Dave Holland and Jack Bruce- he always had the best. Here's another favorite of mine. Like most of his work, he plays like it's the last time he'll ever pick up a pair of sticks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MY5ibtfJXA

-John
 
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Re: Tony Williams - where to start?

JohnW, great call on Out To Lunch. Gazzelloni is another favorite of mine from that one.

Here's one I've been listening to on heavy rotation in the car lately, and it occurs to me that it has almost everything I love about Tony on full display.

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There was something magical for me about that 1964-1965 period of Tony, especially the Blue Notes. He was very prolific during this time and he immediately hit the ground with innovation, taste and technique fully formed.

This was before he really started using the quarter note hi-hat pulse, the blushdas and the bigger drums. His ride cymbal playing on the uptempo numbers like The Eye of the Hurricane is epic. Tony was still using his left foot mostly for those little "and" notes or splashes and his bass drum still had that resonant, higher-pitched tone. But his playing on Dolphin Dance is Tony just playing an easy swing tempo with so much taste and no reliance on repetition or licks. Tony's solos are tasteful throughout.

I just think this is not only one of the greatest jazz recordings but also Tony at his absolute peak.

By 1966, I think his playing was already drastically different, as ridiculous as that sounds. And there was a whole other greatness in his playing during the next phase, but this one really resonates with me for some reason.

Here's The Eye of the Hurricane: http://youtu.be/oQ9V22hnYyQ
 
Re: Tony Williams - where to start?

Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, shows an abstract side to Tony, who was only 18 at the time of the recording.

Oh man, I totally forgot about that album... I gotta go dig that up when I get home.
 
Re: Tony Williams - where to start?

I would strongly urge you to check out the Miles Davis The Complete Concert 1964: My Funny Valentine + Four & More. This recording changed my life as a drummer.

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+1 - An Absolute Must!!! So much of that early Blue Note as already said.

More recent one's that can be found (perhaps not so easily) is "Tokyo Live". Wallace Roney is on it.

A couple others would be Story of Neptune and Young At Heart.
 
1964 was an incredible year for Tony. He was like 18 years old when he recorded most of this music, but it remains my favorite period for his playing (along with the adjacent years 1963 and 1965). Look at the seminal records he made that were released in this one year alone:

Tony Williams - Lifetime
Miles Davis - Four & More + My Funny Valentine
Miles Davis - Miles In Tokyo
Miles Davis - Miles In Berlin
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch
Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles
Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure
Grachan Moncur III - Some Other Stuff
Sam Rivers - Fuchsia Swing Song

I mean, these are some of the most important jazz records of all time. And this young genius comes around and accomplishes all this in one year. My goodness.
 
1964 was an incredible year for Tony. He was like 18 years old when he recorded most of this music, but it remains my favorite period for his playing (along with the adjacent years 1963 and 1965). Look at the seminal records he made that were released in this one year alone:

Tony Williams - Lifetime
Miles Davis - Four & More + My Funny Valentine
Miles Davis - Miles In Tokyo
Miles Davis - Miles In Berlin
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch
Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles
Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure
Grachan Moncur III - Some Other Stuff
Sam Rivers - Fuchsia Swing Song

I mean, these are some of the most important jazz records of all time. And this young genius comes around and accomplishes all this in one year. My goodness.

1964 was a magical year for post-bop in general. Wayne Shorter put out Speak No Evil with Elvin that year!
 
See below:

“A drummer like Tony comes around only once in 30 years.” – Miles Davis
 
1964 was a magical year for post-bop in general. Wayne Shorter put out Speak No Evil with Elvin that year!
This is true.

What I marvel about is how Tony's playing had already changed by two years later. His approach on Miles Smiles, released in 1966, is almost unrecognizable to the Blue Notes. He had started the quarter note pulse on the hi-hats and his sound changed considerably.
 
Wow - thank you!
Any more of this show? One of my favorite groupings.
I have uploaded the whole show at DIME recently so it is still very well seeded:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=413507

A Spanish TV broadcast of The Tony Williams Quintet performing at the Andorra Jazz Festival on July 15, 1988. There are a dozen or so skip-like glitches most of which occur during 24-27 minute portion and a few scattered others. The video is washy and generated but essentially enjoyable and very watchable. If you have an upgrade, what are you waiting for? This performance is new to DIME AFAIK.

Duration: 0:48:37
Data Size: 1.94 GB
Bit Rate: 5.71 Mbps

Video Tracks:
224 MPEG-2, 720 × 576, 4:3, 25 fps, 7.00 Mbps, lower field first

Audio Tracks:
160 PCM stereo, 48 kHz, 1.54 Mbps

solo
Red Mask
Ancient Eyes
solo
Geo Rose
solo
Civilzation
Life of the Party

Tony Williams - Drums
Billy Pierce - Tenor Saxophone
Wallace Roney - Trumpet
Mulgrew Miller - Grand Piano
Bob Hurst - Double Bass

Upped at DIME by Matt Hughen.
TonyWilliamsQuintetAndorraSpain1988screens.png
 
I'm not sure if this is posted anywhere here yet, but I found this on YouTube. It's Tony Williams and his quintet performing Sister Cheryl in New York. I've always loved his solo prior to the beginning of the song. The man had control, and wrote wonderful music to boot!

Check it out - it sounds good, but you might want headphones to get the full effect of his black dot heads!

A version of this was also recorded for his Tokyo Live CD, which I lost. Now when I try to find it, you can't touch it for less than $35 on Amazon. Dang it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTUBecbl7Gs

Enjoy!
 
this has been saved in my favorites for a few years

I pray at the alter of Anthony WIlliams

those Gretsch sound killer
 
I think I've seen pretty much everything available on YouTube that features Tony. He was just a massive influence on me. He did write some great music, too. I love the stuff he wrote for Miles' 2nd 5tet, like Pee Wee,and Hand Jive.

He played in so many groups and left his mark on everything he played on. I did love that quintet with Wallace and Tokyo Live was a great record. I still listen to it all the time!
 
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