Customer Reviews

Joy of Flying

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is ... excellent! This killer shuffle on "Going Far" is just great. Jan Hammer does a great job too. The second song "Hip Skip" is an awesome funky song which has Jan Hammer, George Benson, funky bassist Paul Jackson, Michael Brecker and Ralph McDonald. "Hittin on 6" is funky too and has Herbie and Stanley playin'. Now comes the hard-rock part of the album: "Open Fire" - a real hard rockin' song. My favorite song( out of 7 killer cuts)is "Tony" by Stanley Clarke. Gotta love Herbie's playing and Tony's tight grooves.. "ERIS" is another song which has Jan Hammer doing Keyboards and all synths and Tony's awesome drumming - but now it's not funky like on "Going far", now its rocking. Great playing - thayt isy Tony. "Coming Home" is a beatiful song. The only song I couldn't get into is the last one, "Morgan's Motion", which has Tony and Cecil Taylor doing a duo - just too free for me.

Get this album - its DOPE!

This is a must have for any jazz collection. An All-Star drummer with a All-Star lineup. The music is as good as the title.

Tony Williams...one of the greatest drummers ever...comfortable in all styles. hard to believe this came out 30 years ago!?! very different styles of music and totally enjoyable...btw, on the album titles, "Tony" and "Eris" are two separate pieces.......

The late Tony Williams may have been the best drummer popular music has seen. Technically adept, yes, but more important, he naturally played in ways no other drummer could think of. This goes from his 1960s work with Miles Davis through his work with Lifetime.

Joy Of Flying is from, when synthesizers and shiny production stamped much jazz rock. Of all Williams' work, his drumming on this album is the most straight and rock oriented.

Which by no means is boring or even conservative. Working with Jan Hammer and George Benson, Williams chooses a slick muscular jazz. This definitely has a 1980s blast, but between the varnished sounds, Williams still uses amazing polyrhythms only he could play.

To me, Joy Of Flying sounds dated, and, frankly under Williams' massive talent. It also sounds-except for a fantastic duet with Cecil Taylor at the end- commercial. Nothing wrong with that if this music is what Williams wanted to play. He, like any artist, can do whatever he likes. No one can tell an artist what sound to choose

But in his body of work, Joy Of Flying would be on the bottom of what is a fantastic list.