Tony Williams (December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997) was an African American jazz drummer. December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Jazz is a style of music which originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States at around the start of the 20th century. ...

Biography

Born in Chicago and 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. At 17 Williams found considerable fame with Miles Davis, joining a group that was later dubbed Davis's "Second Great Quintet." His first album as a leader, 1964's Life Time (not to be confused with the name of his band "Lifetime," which he formed several years later) was recorded during his tenure with Davis. Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town, City of the Big Shoulders, The 312, The City that Works, Second City (reference to when Chicago was second in population and prestige to New York). ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, Athens of America, The Hub (of the Universe)1 Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County  - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area    - City  89. ... Alan Dawson is a respected jazz drummer and widely influential teacher based in Boston. ... Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. ... John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (born May 17, 1932) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator, born in New York City. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was one of the most distinguished jazz musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. ...

Williams was a vital element of the group, called by Davis in his autobiography "the center of the group's sound".^{[citation needed]} 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. Rhythm section refers to the musicians whose primary jobs in a jazz or popular music band or ensemble is to establish the rhythm of a song or musical piece, often via repeated riffs or ostinati. ... Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. ... In music a metric modulation is a change (modulation) from one time signature/tempo (meter) to another, wherein a note value from the first is made equivalent to a note value in the second, like a pivot. ...

In 1969, he formed a trio, "The Tony Williams Lifetime," with John McLaughlin on guitar, and Larry Young on organ. Jack Bruce on bass was added later. It was a pioneering band of the fusion movement, a combination of rock, R&B, and jazz. Their first album, Emergency!, was largely rejected by the jazz community at the time of its release. However, Miles Davis was so impressed with the album and its highly experimental direction that he asked to head the group as his own; Williams declined.^{[citation needed]} Nowadays, Emergency! is considered by many to be a fusion classic. The Tony Williams Lifetime was a jazz-rock fusion group led by jazz drummer Tony Williams. ... John McLaughlin John McLaughlin (aka pinyon)(born January 4, 1942), also Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is a jazz fusion guitar player from Doncaster, Yorkshire in England. ... Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin (Abdul Aziz) (born October 7, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey-died March 30, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. ... John Symon Asher Jack Bruce (born May 14, 1943) is a Scottish musician; a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer. ... Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ...

After McLaughlin's departure, and several more albums, 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 respectively. Alan Pasqua(born 1952 in New Jersey) is a jazz pianist and composer who co-composed the CBS Evening News Theme. ... Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1946 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British jazz guitarist and composer. ...

In mid 1976, Williams was a part of a reunion of sorts with his old Miles Davis band compatriots, pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Miles backed out of the reunion at the last minute and was replaced by Freddie Hubbard. The record was later released as V.S.O.P. (which stood for a "Very Special OneTime Performance") 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." (The CD reissues of these albums are sold under Herbie Hancock's name - making things a bit confusing since the original V.S.O.P. album, which alone was a Hancock album, is not currently available on CD.) Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was one of the most distinguished jazz musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. ... Herbie Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an Academy Award and multiple Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Hancock is one of jazz musics most important and influential pianists and composers. ... Ron Carter (born May 4, 1937, Ferndale, Michigan) is an American jazz bassist. ... Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter in the 1960s quintet Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz composer and saxophonist. ... Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (born April 7, 1938 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American jazz trumpeter. ...

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 and into the early '90s. This rhythm section also recorded as a trio. Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist born in 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi. ... Wallace Roney (born May 25, 1960) is an American trumpet player and jazz musician. ... Bill Pierce (born September 25, 1948 in Hampton, Virginia) is an American jazz saxophonist. ... Charnett Moffett (b. ...

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 Arcana, a release organized by prolific bass guitarist Bill Laswell. USGS satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ... The gallbladder (or cholecyst) is a pear-shaped organ that stores bile (or gall) until the body needs it for digestion. ... Bill Laswell (born February 12, 1955 in Salem, Illinois and raised in Albion, Michigan) is an American bassist, producer and record label owner. ...

The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex once did a cover of Fred, which is considered a classic of the Tony Williams Lifetime. Jimmy Chamberlin Complex in Studio The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex is an alternative rock/ jazz fusion band, founded by Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Mohler. ...

Selected discography

As leader

• Lifetime
• Spring
• Emergency!
• Turn It Over
• Ego
• The Old Bum's Rush
• Believe It
• Million Dollar Legs
• The Joy Of Flying
• Foregin Intrigue
• Civilization
• Angel Street
• Native Heart
• The Story of Neptune
• Tokyo Live
• Wilderness
• Young at Heart

Jackie McLean

• One Step Beyond
• Vertigo

Eric Dolphy

• Out to Lunch

Out to Lunch was Eric Dolphys only recording for Blue Note Records as a leader. ...

Grachan Moncur III

• Evolution
• Some Other Stuff

Andrew Hill

• Point of Departure

Point of Departure is an album by jazz pianist and composer Andrew Hill, released on the Blue Note label. ...

Sam Rivers

• Fuschia Swing Song

Kenny Dorham

• Una Mas (1963)

Miles Davis

• Seven Steps to Heaven (1963)
• Miles Davis in Europe (1963)
• Four and More (1964)
• My Funny Valentine
• Miles Davis in Tokyo (1964)
• Miles in Berlin (1964)
• E.S.P. (1965)
• The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel (1965)
• Miles Smiles (1966)
• Sorcerer (1966)
• Nefertiti (1967)
• Miles in the Sky (1968)
• Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968)
• Water Babies
• In a Silent Way (1969)

Seven Steps to Heaven is an album recorded in 1963 by Miles Davis. ... E.S.P. is an album recorded in January 1965 by the Miles Davis quintet. ... Album cover Miles Smiles is an album recorded in October 1966 by the Miles Davis quintet. ... Sorcerer is an album recorded in May 1967 by the Miles Davis quintet. ... Nefertiti is an album recorded in June and July 1967 by the Miles Davis quintet. ... Miles in the Sky is an album recorded in January and May 1968 by the Miles Davis quintet. ... Filles de Kilimanjaro (Girls of Kilimanjaro) was a 1968 album by Miles Davis, which featured extensive use of looser rhythms and an electric piano. ... In a Silent Way is a 1969 album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. ...

Ron Carter

• Third Plane

Travis Shook

• Travis Shook

McCoy Tyner

• Supertrios

Herbie Hancock

• Empyrean Isles
• Maiden Voyage
• My Point of View
• Quartet
• Town Hall Concert
• VSOP
• Future2Future (posthumously)

Wayne Shorter

• The Soothsayer

Wynton Marsalis

• Wynton Marsalis

V.S.O.P.

• The Quintet
• Live Under the Sky
• Tempest in the Colosseum

External links

• VH1 Tony Williams Biography