Ultimate Tony Williams

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Tony Williams' death, at 51 after supposedly routine surgery, was a major loss to modern music - this collection indicates how much he'd already accomplished. Jack DeJohnette is a particularly inspired choice as compiler, as the only drummer that's really approached Williams, though I wonder whether his choice was restricted by licensing, as William's records with Polydor cover the period 69-72, as do all these cuts. Yet, despite his justifiably lauded work with the 60s Miles Davis groups, these early 70s albums are Williams defining himself as a dominant creative force, principally the legendary trio with John McLaughlin and Larry Young, Lifetime. They also point to slightly different strokes - Miles' music increasingly moved into a dark, near-ambient spacey funk, whereas Williams' much smaller groups remain taut, intensely focussed vivid assaults. As a bonus, "Emergency" features some of McLaughlin's finest playing, extending both the form and sound of jazz guitar before our eyes. Larry Young is phenomenal too, though the music is really driven, emotionally and otherwise, by Williams insistently probing playing. DeJohnette's fascinating liner notes describe how Williams' drums with Lifetime were positioned out front - "the group supported the drums" - and this sounds particularly evident on "Vashkar". All three musicians at their peak, playing in and around each other with a seemingly impossible mix of wild abandon and total control, yet Williams is simply awesome. His cymbals fizzing and cracking throughout, toms, snares and bass drums thunderous. "Beyond Games" and "Via The Spectrum Road" are incredibly contemporary, featuring McLaughlin's scuzziest grunge guitar and Williams' funkiest drumming - the only slightly dated aspect is Williams' rap. Though even this sounds cool. Elsewhere, Jack Bruce joins on bass, and percussion freak-outs with Don Alias and Warren Smith are also included. Listening to Williams' "force of nature" style, one's struck with the paucity and sparse feel of today's drum programming. even the fine examples of this work (recently say, Arto Lindsay, Missy Elliott/Timbaland, Squarepusher) seem to concentrate on the spaces in between, whereas Williams is unbelievably full-on, rolling and filling around the sound, covering the canvas like an action painting. Listening to Williams veering between chopped-up shuffle and tumultuous barrage, overlapping jazz and rock polyrhythms with 'non-Western' influences, you can hear a unique musician, pushing forward his own instrument and modern music in general. A great collection.