Customer Reviews

Ultimate Tony Williams

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

 

 

Master drummer Jack DeJohnette (also an alum of Miles Davis' band) personally selected and sequenced the tracks on this collection, with an ear for Tony's strengths as a drummer, composer, and improvising musician. This means a bare minimum of vocals and the sort of tracks that may not have been chosen by a "suit" or a hipster. The music is characterized by structural dynamism (often somewhat asymmetric,) a distinct minor-key feel provided by McLaughlin's guitar and Young's alternately eerie and assaultive organ parts, and a massive wall of syncopation that can never be pinned down to a recurring motif for very long. Those who want most of the best of this period in Williams' career should invest in this disc and spare themselves the expense (and the hideous vocals)of the anthology.

The material selected for this release is impeccable. Thanks to DeJohnette for his praiseworthy endeavour to memorialize his friend and peer Tony Williams. Tony Williams played with 100's of people throughout his career and capturing the essence and scope of his work may have been and daunting task. Unfortunately we're left with so few to listen to. That is unforturnate. Hence the 4 rather than 5 stars, but it deserves a 5.

This is a release which will not please all people, as it is thick and respledent with the mastery of Tony Williams, those looking for a fusion compilation, or not into the wildly bombastic attack on the traps will probably not be as attentive as those who admire the skills Williams employed throughout his dashing career. Laden with 60ish guitar and Hammond organ styling (analog not digital waveforms) it is a trip back in time when the muscians had what they had and "made do" with the limitations of the technology at hand.

I wonder what Tony Williams would have picked, hence the untimeliness of this release. Enjoy!

Where does he get it? I am flabbergasted, to say the least. This collection simply left me shaking my head. All I could say was "It's unfair." How this drummer displayed that much tenacity on the drums was just unreal. It also left me asking a lot of "Why"'s throughout the album, mostly because of the very unorthodox fills inserted. Crazy man, Tony Williams, buy this CD or else.

AFTER RECORDING SOME SEMINAL ALBUMS WITH THE MILES DAVIS BAND THAT INVENTED JAZZ FUSION MUSIC, TONY WILLIAMS STRUCK OUT ON HIS OWN WITH HIS BAND "LIFETIME" IN THE EARLY 70'S. TONY WAS A GREAT YOUNG DRUMMER, AND AT THE FOREFRONT OF DRUMMING IN THIS NEW MODE OF MUSIC, ALONG WITH OTHER DRUMMERS SUCH AS LENNY WHITE, BILLY COBHAM, AND LEON NDUGU CHANCELOR. BUT TONY WAS THE MOST VERSATILE OF THEM ALL, TRULY AN AMAZING MUSICIAN. THIS CD GIVES A GOOD OVERVIEW OF HIS WORK, THE SELECTIONS WERE ALL CHOSEN BY JACK DEJOHNETTE, ONE OF MY FAVORITE DRUMMERS OF ALL TIME AND A CONTEMPORARY OF TONY'S.

These recordings just suck.

Shrill,over the top and in desperate need of digital remastering and even then ,I find the material dated and uninteresting.

Not a good one.