Famous Like Me > Actor > W > Tony Williams
Profile of Tony Williams
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Name: |
Tony Williams |
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Date of Birth: |
12th December 1945 |
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Place of Birth: |
Chicago, Illinois, USA |
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Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia Tony Williams (December 12, 1945 - February 23, 1997) was an American jazz drummer.
Growing up in Boston, Williams began studies with master drummer Alan Dawson at an early age and began playing professionally at the age of 13 with saxophonist Sam Rivers. Jackie McLean hired Williams at 16. Then at 17, Williams found considerable fame with Miles Davis, joining a group that was later dubbed Davis's "Second Great Quintet."
Williams was a vital element of the group, called by Davis in his autobiography "the center of the group's sound". His inventive playing helped redefine the role of jazz rhythm section through the use of polyrhythms and metric modulation (transitioning between mathematically related tempos and/or time signatures). But perhaps his overarching achievement was in demonstrating, through his playing, that the drummer need not be relegated to timekeeping and accompaniment in a jazz ensemble; that the drummer may be free to contribute to the performance as an equal partner in the improvisation.
In 1969, he formed a trio, The Tony Williams Lifetime (with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ). It was a pioneering band of the fusion movement, a combination of rock, R&B, and jazz. Their first album, Emergency!, is considered a classic.
Unfortunately, the band was not a commercial success, and after McLaughlin's departure, and several more albums, the group 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.
In 1985, Williams recorded an album for Blue Note Records entitled Foreign Intrigue, which featured the playing of pianist Mulgrew Miller and trumpeter Wallace Roney. Later that year, he formed a quintet with Miller and Roney, which also featured tenor and soprano saxophonist Bill Pierce and bassist Charnett Moffett (later Ira Coleman). This band played Williams' compositions almost exclusively (the Lennon/McCartney song "Blackbird", the standard "Poinciana", and the Freddie Hubbard blues "Birdlike" being the exceptions) and toured and recorded throughout the remainder of the '80s, into the early '90s. This rhythm section also recorded as a trio.
Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death. One of his final recordings was Arcana, a release organized by prolific bass guitarist Bill Laswell.
Selected discography of the work of drummer Tony Williams.
As leader
- Emergency!
- Turn It Over
- Ego
- The Old Bum's Rush
- Believe It
- Million Dollar Legs
- Foregin Intrigue
- Civilization
- Angel Street
- Native Heart
- The Story of Neptune
- Tokyo Live
Jackie McLean
Eric Dolphy
Andrew Hill
Sam Rivers
Kenny Dorham
Miles Davis
- Seven Steps to Heaven
- Miles Davis in Europe
- Four and More
- My Funny Valentine
- Miles Davis in Tokyo
- Miles in Berlin
- E.S.P.
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel
- Miles Smiles
- Sorcerer
- Nefertiti
- Miles in the Sky
- Filles de Kilimanjaro
- Water Babies
- In A Silent Way
Ron Carter
Herbie Hancock
- Empyrean Isles
- Maiden Voyage
- My Point of View
Wayne Shorter
External link
- VH1 Tony Williams Biography
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It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tony Williams
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