Tony Williams (1945-1997)
Seeing and hearing Tony Williams at The Catalina Bar & Grill was the best music experience from-all-of my trips to NAMM. (1992) I had a seat just a few feet away from his high hat. I wasn’t working for Gretsch at the time. I started with Gretsch in 1986 if my memory is accurate. I regret not accepting an offer that could have been a lengthy career with the company.
The group I heard included Tony playing his Yellow Gretsch, Remo Black Dots, Charnette Moffett-Bass / Mulgrew Miller-Piano / Wallace Roney-Trumpet / Billy Pierce-Soprano & tenor Saxophone. My experience hearing Tony was similar to my first Buddy Rich concert in 1973.
My introduction to the gifted Tony Williams was a birthday record I received in September 1969. It was the “Miles In The Sky” album. I’m revisiting it as I type. Herbie plays electric piano and several of the grooves are 4 – 4 backbeats. It’s the 4 - piece Gretsch Kit Tony.
I wouldn’t renew my subscription to Tony Williams until I was “turned on” to his Emergency, Turn It Over and Ego records. I was inspired to trade in my Roger’s drums and order a Gretsch Walnut Drumset. My thoughts went from thinking
4 - 4 Sing-Sing-Sing to Free Improvisation. I began the process to learn how to play some sort of triplet fills, like what I heard from those Tony & Elvin records.
When I got my Gretsch Drums, I was completely out of my comfort zone with a sound. Everything up to that point only required some sort of human -touch and feel- to make the music sound good. I was always a sideman. My gig was to please the leader, without any surprises. I never figured out how to make that Gretsch drumset fit the commercial backbeat material I was hired to play. Charlie Watts could have straightened me out. I tried every brand and type of drumhead. Clear, coated, hydraulic, mirror - everything without positive results. Maybe that’s why Tony Williams abandoned his 4-piece kit for the bigger drums.
The sound from Tony’s kit at The Catalina was enormous. He was amazingly loud but his dynamics were controlled. I can’t write or comment enough about what I heard. It was just phenomenal.
In 1972, I was working in the St. Pete, Tampa, Clearwater area with Donnie Gregory. It was a nightclub Top-40 band. The bulk of the material was Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Listening and Dance music. I had worked with Donnie and Vic Waters on and off for several years.
My sound and playing was changing. That’s an interesting self-evaluation of my path in music. I was very self-conscious of my playing before 1972. It was raw but seemed to please my bandleader - employer. When I started learning theory, reading and different styles of music, including improvisation---it set off a warning sign. I could be a Jazz Musician or some sort of Avant-Garde Experimental Weirdo. (Danger)
That summer 1973, I bought the new Tony Williams record called “The Old Bums Rush”. It wasn’t what I expected, what happened to his sound? I was confused with this music. I was expecting to hear John McLaughlin, Larry Young or something like those records. This record was on the Polydor Label. It would be Tony’s final project, as they didn’t renew his contract.
In 2023+ I really like this record. The personnel include vocalist Linda/Laura ‘Tequila Logan, Webster Lewis-organ, David Horowitz-electronic keyboards, Herb Bushler-bass. The soul-jazz concept of this record confused me and the album received poor reviews. The group disbanded.
The band I saw at The Catalina was the group Tony finally ended up with after many experiments. I have a theory about Tony Williams search for commercial acceptance. I think he felt that---he could find an audience---in the genre that Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever were experiencing. There’s video of his short-lived 1972 trio with John Luc-Ponty and Stanley Clark.
Following the 1973 “Old Bums Rush” there were several projects with Allan Holdsworth. Many of those were instrumental groups. In my Opinion, I think The Bums Rush lineup may have been his best effort to reach larger audiences. The listeners that eventually accepted the Electric Miles, Weather Report, Return To Forever, Brecker Brothers, Jan Hammer Group, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham ingredient.
One of my favorite compositions authored by Tony Williams is called Sister Cheryl. It was recorded on the Foreign Intrigue record. I believe it was inspired by the Ahmad Jamal tune “Poinciana”. The rhythmic groove is very similar to the classic pattern created by Vernel Fournier. Both are beautiful compositions. There are Youtube videos with audio and live performance.
Tony Williams was a gifted musician. One of my favorite solos is “Echo” recorded on his Blue Note – (“Spring”) record. The historic recordings he did with Sam Rivers are genius.