Man, I am getting tired of writing words. Let’s get back to what you actually come here for: drum shit. In honor of the Superbowl— which they tell me is today— here is something that’s […]
Category: Tony Williams
Groove o’ the day: Tony Williams — Footprints
Here’s a Latin-style groove Tony Williams plays at one point in the odyssey of jazz percussion that is Footprints, a tune by Wayne Shorter, from Miles Davis’s album Miles Smiles. The tune is in 6/4, […]
DBMITW: happy 80th to Wayne Shorter
In honor of the 80th birthday of the great saxophonist Wayne Shorter, here is one of my favorite solos of his— or of anyone else’s, ever— from Miles Davis’s Complete In A Silent Way Sessions […]
Transcription: Tony Williams — Hat And Beard
We do all the hits here— this is another very famous piece of drumming, by Tony Williams, on Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch. The tune is the very unusual Hat And Beard, which is in […]
DBMITW: freight train
Several clips of Tony Williams during his early 70’s “freight train from hell” phase: With Stan Getz, along with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke: Continued after the break: With Lifetime: Master of the single […]
What records I’m listening to
My original bleak assessment of the future of this feature has mostly played out– I still just listen to the same batch of records over and over for days or weeks at a time. But a […]
VOQOTD: on learning jazz
Following Andrew Hare’s Why learn jazz? post: “[I]t seems to me that playing jazz gives a drummer more sensitivity for the drumset and much more of a rounded concept. It’s hard to explain that without […]
Jazz percussion
This is a concept I’ve been kicking around for years, I think since the term first came up for me in reference to Tony Williams in the history section Jack Dejohnette/Charlie Perry book: Tony didn’t […]
Ethan Iverson interview with Billy Hart
Here’s part of another great interview by the Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson, this time with Billy Hart: Miles and Tony Tony, for his age, seemed to me more thorough in the study of the jazz […]
Transcription: Four – the classic intro
Here in chronological order are three very similar intros to the tune Four, recorded by Miles Davis. The one by Philly Joe is the classic beginning of this tune— I don’t know if he was […]
Daily best music in the world: Gil Evans
We can debate the subtleties of the meaning of the word “daily” later- right now just play this loud: That’s Tony Williams on the drums, in one of my new favorite performances of his after […]