Not So Modern Drummer continues to celebrate the life and music of legendary drummer Tony Williams in our new ongoing series. Chapter 10 presents the personal recollections of Shawn Meehan. Shawn is an active performer and educator currently residing in Boston, MA. His recording, performing, and touring credits include The Mount Washington Sextet and Big Band, Eight To The Bar, Richard Davis, Rockin’ Vibration, Dion Knibb and the Agitators, Tony Lynn Washington, Dave Macklin Band, Eddie Kirkland, Johnnie Marshall, Phil Guy, Clarence Spady, Justin Beech, Robbie Lee, Darktown Tumblers and the Peter Hostage Trio among others. He is a graduate of the Berklee College Of Music, a member of the Vic Firth Education Team and teaches at the North End Music And Performing Arts Center in Boston.
There he stood with his back to me, surveying the scene. Tony Williams was instantly recognizable, even though I had never seen him in person. Smoking a big cigar with an air of absolute confidence, his presence was felt throughout the room before he even took his place behind those yellow Gretsch drums. It was the early 90’s and I was sitting in the back of the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA. Tony Williams Quintet had been on my calendar for months. The day was finally here, and now I was seated mere feet from musical royalty.
When he did finally take his place behind the drums, he opened the set with some delicate snare work, inverting and permutating intricate roll and flam patterns, gradually incorporating other elements of the kit until eventually opening up the toms with thunderous singles. Man, he had the entire audience in rapt attention. When he brought the dynamic down you could hear a pin drop. He had everyone in that room in the palms of his golden hands. The band was smoking and ran down a set of Tony compositions as well as a version of the Beatles’ Blackbird.
Not long after that I was fortunate to witness Tony once again at the Regattabar. This time Mulgrew Miller was not on piano. I don’t remember who the piano player was, but I do remember feeling for him as he scuffled his way through the original TW composition, Neptune: Creatures of Conscience. His head buried in the lead sheet, it was obviously a challenge to deal with the rhythmic twists and turns of the piece born from the genius mind of Tony Williams.
There was one other time that I was able to see Tony at fairly close range. It was at the Newport Jazz Festival and Tony was part of the Tribute to Miles, which headlined that afternoon. Gradually throughout the day, the sunny skies had given way to clouds culminating in a thunderstorm. By the time the Quintet had taken the stage, most of the crowd had left, not willing to endure the weather. I stood amongst a small group of die hards at the front of the stage. It was a torrential downpour at this point. Herbie Hancock had drops of water dripping from his sleeves and onto the piano. I seem to remember it was during Pinnochio when Tony started dropping bombs on the bass drum that the crackle through the PA became more pronounced with each bomb. Eventually the PA went completely out! The band kept on cooking as though nothing had happened. We were listening to them acoustically.
I first discovered Miles and Tony Williams in high school. The Four and More album completely floored me. That band was so connected with one another. It was like, “Let’s hang here for a moment and now let’s charge forward”. I was just learning about form, but this was something else completely. Tony’s tone was so warm and that dance on the ride cymbal so delicate, but fierce at the same time. Every element of the kit was so seamlessly integrated.
After exploring the Miles Quintet, Herbie Hancock’s Empyrean Isles, Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch and others from that period, I discovered the Believe It album. It was hard to believe that this was the same drummer! Talk about mind blowing. Another favorite is the Jonas Hellborg album, The Word. It is so beautiful how Tony weaves his drumming amongst a string quartet. What I love about Tony Williams is how he continually evolved while simultaneously reinventing drumming and music.
He was willing to take things to a new place, incorporating elements from popular music while building upon his roots. He was relentless in his pursuit of new musical ground, even seeking out a professor to study composition later in his career.
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