Tony Williams (drummer)


Anthony Tillmon Williams was an American jazz drummer.
Williams first gained fame in the band of trumpeter Miles Davis and pioneered jazz fusion. He 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 was 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 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 and Spring. 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 and 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 was released in 2007. It opens with a powerful drum improvisation by Williams, followed by McLaughlin's "Dark Prince" and Pastorius' "Continuum", Williams' 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 two albums in 1980 and 1982.
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. This band played Williams' compositions almost exclusively. Williams also played drums for the band Public Image Limited, fronted by John Lydon, on their release Album/Cassette/Compact Disc. He played on the songs "FFF", "Rise", and "Home". Bass guitarist Bill Laswell co-wrote those three songs with Lydon. The other drummer on that album was Ginger Baker.

Personal life

Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death from a heart attack following routine gall bladder 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

With Geri Allen
With Chet Baker
With George Cables
With Ron Carter
With Stanley Clarke
With Miles Davis
With Eric Dolphy
With Kenny Dorham
With Gil Evans
With Tommy Flanagan
With Hal Galper
With Stan Getz
With Dexter Gordon
With Herbie Hancock
With Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Wallace Roney
With Jonas Hellborg and the Soldier String Quartet
With Joe Henderson
With Andrew Hill
With Terumasa Hino
With Allan Holdsworth
With Charles Lloyd
With Michael Mantler
With Ray Manzarek
With Branford Marsalis
With Wynton Marsalis
With John McLaughlin
With Jackie McLean
With Marcus Miller
With Mulgrew Miller
With Grachan Moncur III
With Yoko Ono
With Michel Petrucciani
With Pop Workshop
With Public Image Limited
With Don Pullen
With Sam Rivers
With Sonny Rollins
With Wallace Roney
With Carlos Santana
With Travis Shook
With Wayne Shorter
With McCoy Tyner
With Weather Report