There are possibly a very few drummers who can sound like Tony Williams, but Tony really originated so much of his vocabulary. He was really a Jimi Hendrix on drums. I think people generally underestimate the profound influence he had on the Miles quintet.
Was at this clinic with several drummers from NTSU. We knew it was going to be an inspiring day, and indeed it was. Incredible drumming from the masters. Tony was so loose and cool and such a technician. The scrubs he was wearing were a great metaphor for his surgical approach to drumming. So precise and confident in his playing. That's what impressed me. He was a true gentleman. I can't remember the downtown building this clinic was in, but I recall stepping outside during a break and seeing Tony taking in the sights of Dallas. He was just walking the streets by himself and digging the sites. As he remarked, this was his first time to Dallas. He was such a "chill" guy who was always in the zone. I wish I would have had more courage to approach him that day in downtown Dallas and tell him "thanks for inspiring me to work harder," but I figured he wanted this time to himself before performing later in the clinic. I thought his philosophy about playing brushes was so unique. Thanks for posting this as it brought back great memories from my college days at North Texas.
I usually don’t like drum solos. But Tony is on another planet, the music flows directly from him. Only one Tony Williams in a century , as Miles told.
I remember when I was 17 and drumming in a school Jazz festival, Chuck Israels, former bassist of John Coltrane and Bill Evans was a special guest adjudicator. He was absolutely brutal. Was really hard on all the kids. After my jazz combo played he basically ripped everyone in my band a new asshole and then came over to me.... I was shaking..... he told me that I reminded him of the first time he saw Tony Williams playing in a jazz club as a kid...and he ended up giving me an award with scholarship money. I think I almost cried I couldnt believe it. Tony Williams was my favourite jazz drummer. Disclaimer: I am now 30 and nowhere near as good as Tony Williams.
Tony Williams is one of the greatest drummers of all time. So many more recent top drummers have modelled thenselves after him. What a fabulous guy, so informative and humble as well.
jonsilence Another great description of Tony brilliance being described as a force of nature I often hear and visualize as as Tonya playing as a volcano erupting underneath the music lifting everything above it even higher and higher and hotter and hotter the most difficult drummer to imitate and copy so totally unique.☺😁😀🤣
My personal list of the greatest drummers of all time constantly changes, but Tony Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta, Billy Cobham, Dennis Chambers, and Omar Hakim are among the few who are always at the top.
I completely agree with you (adding Dave Weckl to that list). Since I was in 7th grade (1982) I was a huge Rush fan. Naturally, I saw Neil Peart as a God. In my late teens/early 20s I began to learn about the drummers like Weckl,Chambers, Hakim, etc... I became less impressed with Neil Peart from a technical standpoint. Is that unfair? I still think he is a great player, just not in the way I see the legendary sessions cats... thanks in advance for your opinion.
@@trevormcmanis I would say from a compositional standpoint then Neil towers over the rest of them. But I agree he is not as technically proficient as the others. He said a lot with a smaller vocabulary.
@@Cpt_Guirk You are absolutely correct. Thank you for sharing your comment. After I reread my original comment, I realized I failed to mention that Neil is a primary reason I became a drummer. To be honest, he had more technical ability than I gave him credit for. I still can’t believe he is no longer with us. Neil was an amazing person. 🙏
The late great Tony... There are other drummers who might be more technically advanced but who else plays with such raw power and energy? When he gets that bass drum chugging with the snare he is untouchable. R.I.P. Tony.
7:48 regarding his drum tuning.. the tones are in the key of B.. descending from the 5th note of the scale F#.. down to the root @ B.. then down further to the next F#.. so his Snare and Lowest Tom are both F#.. 1 octave apart.
A force of nature....the eye of the hurricane.... a towering and singular figure in the history of the drums. God rest his gifted soul....he is missed more than words can say. Yes, clearly one of Bozzio's primary influences, and when I first heard Terry I thought "This sounds like Tony Williams smoothed out and run through a computer."
Today so many techniques on drums rely on bounce, push-pull,free stroke, Moller etc...and so many things that Mr. Williams played were controlled bounces :)...he still is the one and only to inspire me to carry 3 floor toms on a gig.. thank you for posting these fantastic videos!!!!! :))))
His flow and groove is just so good. Like a great sportsman, you can watch them without sound and still be entertained. The marvelous movement and technique!
Brutal sound, absolutely love those clear dots on those drums. Powerful sound but still so melodic, the fundamental comes through more than w coated heads.
+A UserName The dot heads do sound great when they are tuned well. Sometimes I like using them, sometimes I don't. It does depend on how they are tuned. The dot heads do have a clearer "attack" or "stick" sound to them, if that's what you want. Not as many guys use them these days, but don't always go by normal convention. I think they are cool if tuned right. I also think they are better with the more traditional sized drums. 8x12, 9x13, 10x14, etc.
San Anselmo in beautiful Moron County. I spent my childhood there so I can empathize with Tony on that one. He's buried in Colma ,San Francisco. He was a innovator for sure, and he is surely missed!
Every time I hear a drum kit with Remo C.S. Black Dot heads it reminds me of the 1970's and the Tony Williams sound!!! This was during my teenage years and as a matter of fact, my first professional drum kit came with Remo Black Dots back in 1977!!!
I like how he says that he doesn’t tune his drums to a specific sound but when he played them it appears to be F#, B, C#, D#, E and finally a high F# om the snare. So basically the first 5 notes of a B major scale! I bet it happened subconsiously!
Mr. Tony Williams - you live on forever in each of us who have the passion and soul of a drummer. Thank you for your years of depth. For the beat of your soul lives on! David Curtis
Independence off the charts. He makes the set talk. One thing though, apparently the sound engineer did not know how to control Tonys ride cymbal because it was WAAAY to loud in the mix. I would love to hear and see a better mix of this day. But anyway I'll take whatever there is. Thx for putting this up.
The ride cymbal is the most important aspect of a jazz drummer's sound. It sounds perfectly balanced in my home theater setup but I'm listening on a high end audio setup so it might be that your setup is too bright sounding.
how hard could have been to have a mic in the audience and pass it along to the next one , poor guy having a hard time to get the questions,, and that light .. gee... having said that it,s a blessing to have a hands on such priceless video,, mat rest in peace mr williams..
Could someone else notice that something seems to happen to the bass drum at the end of the last performance? he seems to stare at someone and point at the bass drum like saying something, and then he smiles...and finishes his solo playing toms and cymbals only 19:57 to the end .... TONY is so unique and GREAT .
I have a lot of respect - admiration - for a lot of drummers, but, simply,TW was, and will always be - the best Jazz drummer the world will ever hear! Out to Lunch; Nefertiti; Believe it! And his comments were great! Playing for the people - this man was not an egotist! And in the end he played a bit of ride cymbal - absolutely glorious!
These are great clips tedsirota!! Thank you. But I find it so odd that Tony Williams is onstage and answering these questions. He's TONY WILLIAMS!!! He ain't got to answer to nobody!!! Great solo at the end.
Love this guy. It’s like, how bout I bust fast single stroke rolls up and down the toms and have it sound cooler than anyone, like you’ve never even heard it before?
The man at the very end said Simon Phillips was up next...Simon s a great drummer and i bet he gave a great clinic, but to follow Tony....man, that's rough...
Min Marker5:14'ish - though I couldnt hear the question, and perhaps I am projecting based on what Tony's answer was. I love how he stated, "one you make a record, its commercial." I always wonder why people criticize musicians for being commercial. Musicians gotta eat too...
Does anyone knows who has these cymbals, I know its tony's unique sound but who on earth has them now?, they sound so good as tony sees individualy, HIHAT OMG, amazing, Tony you are the best !!!
My God, that's unhinged. Totally sick. Vinnie, Dennis, Lang, Donati, Gadd, Cobham, are all amazing but nowhere near Tony's complete mastery of the soul and mastery of the instrument. Truly untouchable, The best their ever was.
I've posted a new video which focuses on Tony's brush playing at 12:37 here and a transcription of the first 12 bars appears on page 56 of my drum book. It's amazing how much Tony continues to inspire us.
Charles Beauregard - About 11 years ago I bought 3 Tony Williams DVD's on eBay. One of them was this 1985 Zildjian Day Clinic. Needless to say the seller pushed bootleg copies off on me. However, it came with the copied cover artwork and even the DVD was printed from the original artwork!! Anyway, after looking at them, they appear to be from "Tutu Records". You can research it from there.
His sound has nothing to do with a metronome my friend. I say this with all due respect to you but it is all about his humanity and what is within him. The great Kenwood Dennard once said at a drum clinic of his that I attended that " if you are going to spend hours a day practicing to sound like Tony Williams (or anybody else for that matter) then you will never sound like yourself". Personally, I do not even think Tony used a metronome, he was so in tune with his inner timing that we all posses as human beings. That is the only timing that should matter!!!
