Tony Williams

He did shove Wynton M off stage at Avery Fischer Hall, once....... : - I

Just being a visionary, There's no accounting for good taste. I am sure that had to do more with his mouth than his playing. I mean he did manage to piss off 3/4 of the jazz loving world, and totally discredited Miles later work. The other 1/4 hadn't read him. A lot of what Wynton said about culture was true though, and I repsected him for that. He just did not really get it when it came to music.
 
Last edited:
Well, a -hole. it's also the way I described it, if you look at what I said. :)
 
You both sound about right.I love the fills Tony plays in this tune too.. they are just so sweetly sophisticated, the taste lingers on the tongue well into the following bars...I love the one where he plays the cymbals like he hitting the drums
 
You both sound about right.I love the fills Tony plays in this tune too.. they are just so sweetly sophisticated, the taste lingers on the tongue well into the following bars...

That's the thing, ain't it? I mean you can try to imitate the groove, but the tasty fills is what really makes it happen. That's what separates the boys from the men, or the genius from guys looking at what the genius does. :)
 
You have some extra SD strokes in the beats of 1+3 that aren't in the pattern other than that it lines up.


they're in the video. :)

The basic idea is a samba, with a jazz feel and a rock back beat. It is interesting to know that he just didn't pull the groove out of left field. It has it's roots a a varity of styles. This, after all was Tony's legacy. And even if he didn't invent fusion, he sure was better at it than most anyone else. :)
 
they're in the video. :)

The basic idea is a samba, with a jazz feel and a rock back beat. It is interesting to know that he just didn't pull the groove out of left field. It has it's roots a a varity of styles. This, after all was Tony's legacy. And even if he didn't invent fusion, he sure was better at it than most anyone else. :)

Nope. The main snares land on 2+4 in the feel with last 1/16th of beats 1+3 with the left hand setting them up as I notated. Know this one very well from heart.

Combining elements of regular and double time ideas in one feel makes it all "Tony".

P.S I watched the clip carefully Ken and yes he's gently ghosting more SD beats in this particular clip combined with the accented SD beats where I indicated so you are correct in this case :}
 
Last edited:
Silly me. I have yet to open my a Christmas present ( Steve Smith DVD -standing on the shoulders of giants) which has a transcription of the tune, which is also performend by his band Jazz Legacy.

I'll try and put it up here, see what you two docs think....
 
Silly me. I have yet to open my a Christmas present ( Steve Smith DVD -standing on the shoulders of giants) which has a transcription of the tune, which is also performend by his band Jazz Legacy.

I'll try and put it up here, see what you two docs think....

It's in theTraps issue, too. But the whole idea, again is that it is not just coming up with the groove, but the myriad of ways he inflects it. It sounds to be like he is doing an Elvin here, accenting the 'a' of the ride, and changing up the bass drum accents like you mentioned, really cool stuff. and anayway, what are you going to do to it? That's really the most important part.:)
 
Last edited:
what are you going to do to it? That's really the most important part.:)

Well,Well,Well..............for starters, I'm messing with Dennis Chamber's Fatback groove ( not Stubblefield's ). I'm mixing in some Bhangra to it, and it sounds really interesting..I might post it up if it comes out half way decent.

Will cross the Tony bridge when I get to it.. ( got to get my singles chops up to play the opening ). Tis a long way to that river.
 
I am sure you will do fine with it Abe. The question was rhetorical to some extent because that is what Tony would ask. You could come up with some skeletal conception of the groove; but that is not what he is doing. He is continually manipulating the groove and thus the time and feel. I think that is just such a great idea and for Tony this is drumming. Beats are Timekeeping, keeping time. But drumming is rhythms and in Sister Cheryl you can hear how he totally waeves and shapes the time. This is what the article was about, and I just wanted to share that because people ask the question "why is jazz so special?" Stan was saying, "these artist relating to the greater musical world around them and the tradition, of jazz and of jazz drumming." Here is an example of an artist doing just that; and we have only touched the surface of this piece I am sure.
 
Can anyone recommend some of Tony's best work? I have Nefertiti, and I know he plays on that. I also might have some other stuff that he plays on and I just don't know it
 
Can anyone recommend some of Tony's best work? I have Nefertiti, and I know he plays on that. I also might have some other stuff that he plays on and I just don't know it

You should check out Four and More, Miles Smiles, ESP, The Sorcerer, really anything with the Miles Quintet when he was playing with Herbie, Ron, and Wayne (for the most part). Also check out his own CD Emergency with John McLaughlin and Larry Young. One of my favorite albums with Tony on it though has to be Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch, beautiful record. The Herbie albums Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage are great as well. And another one of my personal favorites is a Jackie McLean album called Destination Out. Grachan Moncur IIIs album Evolution is great too. Theres a ton of great Tony out there.
 
You should check out Four and More, Miles Smiles, ESP, The Sorcerer, really anything with the Miles Quintet when he was playing with Herbie, Ron, and Wayne (for the most part). Also check out his own CD Emergency with John McLaughlin and Larry Young. One of my favorite albums with Tony on it though has to be Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch, beautiful record. The Herbie albums Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage are great as well. And another one of my personal favorites is a Jackie McLean album called Destination Out. Grachan Moncur IIIs album Evolution is great too. Theres a ton of great Tony out there.

Dude - I agree, especially about Out To Lunch, but Destination Out! has Roy Haynes on it, not Tony.
 
Oh my god youre completely right, I guess I was thinking vertigo of something, or not thinking at all. Destination out is a badd album regardless, Roy's the man.
 
Re: Tony Williams - Fred

Does anyone have a transcription of the main groove for "Fred". I have seen clips of Tony, Chad, and Gary doing it live and of course have about worn the vinyl off of the original recording but I would ike to learn it and am having trouble getting it on my own.

Any help out there? Gary maybe?

Thanks in advance and respect to all!

Jiva
 
Back
Top