b: 12.12.1945
d. 23.02.1997
Nationality: American
Genre: Jazz/fusion

Tony was the first star of jazz-rock, Vinnie Colaiuta’s hero, just about everyone’s hero. Joining Miles Davis’s Quintet at 17 (in 1963) he was already a shockingly mature jazz talent and those early recordings ensure him jazz immortality. But he simultaneously ushered in a new era which led by the late ’60s to jazz-rock - music with jazz sensibility and complexity, but with amplified rock power.

Although he later returned to acoustic David Redfern/Redferns instrumentation, he kept the big drums, big cymbals, loud sound and attitude. Miles summed it up: "There ain’t but one Tony Williams when it comes to playing the drums".

Essential downloads:

Miles Davis Quintet: Walkin’
Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
Tony Williams Lifetime: Vashkar
Tony Williams: Echo
V.S.O.P.: Byrdlike