Drummer Tony Williams, a precocious, talented child prodigy, was only 17 years old when he joined Miles Davis’ band in 1963. Although he was by far the youngest in the group, he quickly became the linchpin of the trumpeter’s new band, as Davis admitted in his 1988 memoir: Miles: The Autobiography. “He simply lit a fire under everyone in the group,” he wrote. “Tony was always the center around which the group’s sound revolved.” The band quickly developed into what critics called Davis’ “second great quintet,” and went on to release seminal albums such as ESP And NefertitiBut Williams was not content to be a sideman or just a drummer: he was an ambitious composer with a keen interest in free jazz and improvised music, which he pursued with his debut album, lifepublished in January 1965.
Anthony Tillman Williams was born in Chicago in 1945 and grew up in Boston, where, influenced by percussion masters Max Roach and Art Blakey, he began playing drums and studied with noted drummer and educator Alan Dawson. At age 13, he was playing professionally with another important early mentor, avant-garde saxophonist and flautist Sam Rivers. At age 16, he performed Jackie McLean‘s band, which can be heard on the alto saxophonist’s groundbreaking Blue Note album One step further and made significant contributions to several of the label’s other progressive recordings, including Grachan Moncur III’s evolution and Eric Dolphy’s iconic Out for lunch!
For his debut album, released under the name Anthony Williams, the drummer showcased his work as a composer rather than focusing solely on his drumming skills. Playing drums came naturally to Williams: “From a young age, it was so easy to figure things out that it was almost embarrassing,” he said Musician Magazine in 1992. But composing music was more difficult for him. “I had to tackle something that was difficult, that was not given by God, and watch it grow,” he explained in the same interview. “That was and is composing music for me.”
Listen to Anthony Williams’ life Now.
Recorded on two consecutive days in August 1964, life Williams relied on his Miles Davis bandmates to bring his musical vision to life; saxophonist Sam Rivers, pianist Herbie Hancockand bassist Ron Carter. Also present was vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson – who was at home in hard bop and more progressive jazz – and two versatile bassists with different styles: Richard Davis, who had played with Eric Dolphy, and Gary Peacock, whose references ranged from free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler to pianist Bill Evans.
Rather than have them all play together, Williams split the musicians into smaller groups. Davis and Peacock joined Rivers and Williams on the first two compositions, the slow “Two Pieces Of One: Red,” in which the saxophone and bass play a mournful melody in unison, and the livelier “Two Pieces Of One: Green,” in which Williams explores unusual time signatures with a long solo passage.
Williams played hand percussion alongside drums on the multi-layered “Memory,” alongside Hutcherson’s shimmering vibraphone and woody marimba lines. Also featured on that track and the final piece, the haunting “Barb’s Song To The Wizard” – which Williams sat out – was Herbie Hancock, who recalled the drummer showing him the “melodies” by playing the piano parts with one finger of each hand. “(There were) no chords really, just two lines, and I had to write the notes down for him. His style was very rough. But I didn’t want to dismiss anything just because it was a two-finger composition; knowing what a mind Tony had, I just didn’t want to get in his way, but help him realize what he had in mind.”
For those who only knew the drummer from his work with Miles Davis, lifeThe radical rejection of orthodox jazz cliches was a revelation. In a broader sense, it was the first purposeful step in a musical journey that would later lead Tony Williams to venture into jazz fusion and disco-funk with his group Lifetime, and even into rock, where he unexpectedly became a member of Santana and Public Image Ltd.
Listen to Anthony Williams’ life Now.
