I have been called many things in my life hopefully some complimentary, others non-printable :) - but I will always think of myself as a drummer and musician - from the age of eleven I picked up those sticks and never looked back. I will never ever forget the sound of Gene Krupa's raging, pounding tom toms in "Sing Sing Sing" - Gene was my first drumming hero. However I will also never forget the time I first heard Tony Williams.
Aged 17 in the early 1960's I first heard Miles Davis' new Quintet. I had already discovered Miles previously when I managed to get a copy of "Kind of Blue" - this was a revelation - an album of supreme importance in the jazz repertoire. Jimmy Cobb on Drums, Paul Chambers on Bass, Bill Evans on piano - what a rhythm section - supremely playing behind the magisterial horns of Miles, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley - breathtakingly wonderful. However, a live album was released "Four and More" featuring the new Quintet.
This album totally blew me away - recorded live at the Philharmonic Hall at New York's Lincoln Centre in 1964 it changed the way drummers played and certainly changed my style of playing and in many ways my life.
There was this 17 year old drummer Tony Williams playing with Ron Carter on bass, Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on Tenor and of course the extraordinary Miles Davis as leader. Suddenly I was listening to waves of crashing and riding cymbals - those K Zildjians sounded to me like rolling thunder, hail, sleet, rain, the Mistral winds supporting and sending the sublime notes of Miles' trumpet to places never imagined. I couldn't believe what I was hearing - here was this young kid playing at a level unheard of before - the rhythmic complexities, the time changes, the inventiveness of the playing - pushing, pulsating, prodding, pounding, prompting the soloists in directions they had never thought of before. It was mind boggling and a revelation.
Miles Davis said it all in his caustic autobiography - liberally trashing the reputations of jazz legends, friends and family left and right - he never says a bad word about our Wizard. In Miles own words "I was learning something new every night with that group. One reason was that Tony Williams was such a progressive drummer. He was the only guy in the band that told me 'why don't you practice?'
For anyone who loves jazz I implore you to listen to that Album and indeed the other albums this incredible quintet released
In 1969, Tony 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, a combination of rock, R&B, and jazz.
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. and was highly instrumental in increasing the popularity of acoustic jazz. The group went on to tour and record for several years, releasing a series of live albums under the name "V.S.O.P." or "The V.S.O.P. Quintet".
I saw Tony play live a few times whenever I was able to get to New York - the last time at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village - a marvellous player and I feel sad that I never got to speak with him. I can visualise him sitting behind his bright yellow Gretsch Drums - a happy memory of a great player
Tony Williams tragically died on the hospital operating table on February 23rd 1997 aged only 52 - but his legacy and memory will never be forgotten.
Many years later I was deeply honoured and privileged to present Miles Davis in concert with my partners in that series of concerts Brian Theobald and Gerry O'Reilly. It was such a thrill to be on that stage with Miles - he had moved on musically and was into his "electronic/funk" period - the great Al Foster was on drums - wonderful memories - never to be forgotten either - but the musical impact on me personally could never eclipse the earlier quintets.
So to Tony Williams the player I called "the Wizard" - thank you for your music, thank you for your creative artistry, thank you for your talent, thank you for the memory of a rhythmic world changed forever. You passed away much too young - a terrible shock to all of us - never to be forgotten - RIP
Thanks for reading
Peter (aka Geoffrey Martin)
He was a one and only!!
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