Editing Tony Williams (drummer) (section)

==Life and career==
[[File:Tony Williams1.jpg|thumb|Williams in [[Half Moon Bay, California]], 1986.]]
Williams was born in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and grew up in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=drummerworld>{{cite web|url=https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Tony_Williams.html |title=Tony Williams |website=Drummerworld.com |access-date=2023-08-22}}</ref> He was of African, Portuguese, and Chinese descent.<ref name=drummerworld /><ref>{{cite web|title=Tony Williams Interview 1995|website = [[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3_XiUFWmE| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121228102107/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3_XiUFWmE&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2012-12-28 | url-status=dead|access-date=March 27, 2012}}</ref> He studied with drummer [[Alan Dawson]] at the age of 11, and began playing professionally at the age of 13 with saxophonist [[Sam Rivers (jazz musician)|Sam Rivers]]. Saxophonist [[Jackie McLean]] hired Williams when he was 16.<ref name=drummerworld /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Don |first1=Snowden |title=Jazz Drummer Tony Williams: A Lifetime of Risky Riffs |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-17-ca-948-story.html |access-date=25 June 2019 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=17 August 1989}}</ref> As a young drummer, he was influenced by [[Max Roach]], [[Art Blakey]], [[Philly Joe Jones]], [[Roy Haynes]], and [[Jimmy Cobb]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cerra |first=Steven |date=2020-08-26 |title=JazzProfiles: Tony Williams - The Tony Scherman Interview |url=https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2020/08/tony-williams-tony-scherman-interview.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=JazzProfiles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=DownBeat Archives |url=https://downbeat.com/archives/detail/tony-williams-two-decades-of-drum-innovation/P1 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=downbeat.com}}</ref>

At 17, Williams joined [[Miles Davis]] in what was later dubbed Davis's [[Second Great Quintet]]--with saxophonist [[Wayne Shorter]], pianist [[Herbie Hancock]], and bassist [[Ron Carter]]. Davis had been in something of a creative lull, and critics noted the young Tony Williams's playing spurred the others on.<ref name=fordham>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/30/shopping.jazz1 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=January 26, 2025 |title=Review: Miles Davis, ''Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival'' |first=John |last=Fordham}}</ref> Williams was a vital element of the group, called by Davis in his autobiography "the center that the group's sound revolved around."<ref>''Miles The Autobiography'', Picador, 1989, p. 254.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> His playing helped redefine the role of the jazz [[rhythm section]] through the use of [[polyrhythm]]s and [[metric modulation]]. Meanwhile, he recorded his first two albums as a leader for the [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]] label, ''[[Life Time (Tony Williams album)|Life Time]]'' (1964) and ''[[Spring (Tony Williams album)|Spring]]'' (1965). He also recorded as a sideman for the label including the classics ''[[Out to Lunch!]]'' with [[Eric Dolphy]] and ''[[Point of Departure (Andrew Hill album)|Point of Departure]]'' with [[Andrew Hill (jazz musician)|Andrew Hill]], both in 1964.

In 1969 Williams formed [[the Tony Williams Lifetime]], with [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]] on guitar and [[Larry Young (jazz)|Larry Young]] on organ.<ref name=drummerworld /> Lifetime was a pioneering band of the [[Jazz-rock fusion|fusion movement]].

Their first album was [[Emergency! (album)|''Emergency!'']]. For the [[Turn It Over]] album, the trio were joined by bass guitarist and vocalist [[Jack Bruce]]. After several more releases and touring, Lifetime disbanded. In 1975, Williams formed "The New Tony Williams Lifetime", featuring bassist [[Tony Newton (musician)|Tony Newton]], keyboardist [[Alan Pasqua]] and guitarist [[Allan Holdsworth]], who recorded two albums for [[Columbia Records]], ''[[Believe It (album)|Believe It]]'' and ''[[Million Dollar Legs (album)|Million Dollar Legs]]''.

In 1976, Williams reunited with his colleagues from the Miles Davis Quintet.<ref name=drummerworld /> (Davis himself was in the midst of a six-year hiatus and was "replaced" by trumpeter [[Freddie Hubbard]].) <ref name=drummerworld /> A record of their concert was later released as ''[[VSOP (album)|V.S.O.P]]'' (“Very Special One-time Performance”), the name under which the group toured and recorded for several years. <ref name=drummerworld /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cook|first=Richard|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/223804125|title=The Penguin guide to jazz recordings|date=2008|others=Brian Morton|isbn=978-0-14-103401-0|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|pages=62|oclc=223804125}}</ref>

In 1979, Williams, McLaughlin and bassist [[Jaco Pastorius]] united for a performance at the [[Festivals in Havana#Havana International Jazz Festival|Havana Jazz Festival]].<ref name=drummerworld /> This trio came to be known as the [[Trio of Doom]], and a recording of their performance (along with some studio tracks recorded in New York shortly thereafter) was released in 2007. Williams and Pastorius also played together on "Good Question" from the 1978 Herbie Hancock album ''[[Sunlight (Herbie Hancock album)|Sunlight]]''. Williams appears with the group [[Fuse One]] on their 1980 album.<ref name=ALLMUSIC>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p10614|pure_url=yes}}|title=Fuse One Discography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref>

In 1985, he returned to [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]] with the ''Foreign Intrigue'' album. Eventually Williams formed his own acoustic quintet with trumpeter [[Wallace Roney]], saxophonist [[Bill Pierce (saxophonist)|Bill Pierce]], pianist [[Mulgrew Miller]] and bassist [[Ira Coleman]]. The quintet played Williams's compositions almost exclusively, recording and touring extensively from 1986 to 1992, culminating in [[The Story of Neptune]] album.

Williams guested with the band [[Public Image Limited]], fronted by [[John Lydon]], on their release ''[[Album (Public Image Ltd album)|Album]]'' (1986). 

On February 20, 1997, Williams checked into Seton Medical Center in [[Daly City, California]], suffering from stomach pain. Three days later, while recuperating from [[gall bladder]] surgery, he died of a [[heart attack]]. He was 51 years old.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/26/arts/tony-williams-51-drummer-renowned-as-a-jazz-innovator.html|title = Tony Williams, 51, Drummer Renowned as a Jazz Innovator|newspaper = The New York Times|date = February 26, 1997|last1 = Watrous|first1 = Peter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/02/26/lauded-jazz-drummer-tony-williams-dies-at-51/4c4e23fe-91c5-443a-b7a5-52a1804e2be5/|title=LAUDED JAZZ DRUMMER TONY WILLIAMS DIES AT 51|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 25, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-26-me-32683-story.html|title=Tony Williams; Innovative Jazz Drummer, Fusion Pioneer|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=February 26, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/max-roach-remembers-tony-williams/|title = Max Roach Remembers Tony Williams| date=May 9, 2019 }}</ref>