Looking at that title makes me so thankful that I had the opportunity to cross paths with an unquestioned giant and innovator. I had moved from Los Angeles to the San Francisco bay area in December of 1989 and not long after my return, I was contacted by Don Sfarzo, owner of a legendary drum shop in SF’s Mission District, called Drum World. He asked if I’d be interested in teaching there on a regular basis…Of course I said yes and we agreed on Saturdays. He went on to say that Tony Williams was teaching there on Saturdays as well. Whoa! I would be teaching the same place and day as one of my drum heroes. I had the opportunity to see him play a few times and he was also on semi-regular rotation in my listening routines over the years.
I knew that he was a bay area resident, and not long before the Drum World invitation, I had gone with Michael Shrieve to see Tony play with his own band at Kimball’s, a great music venue here in the east bay. A fabulous show, listening and watching him perform his own compositions. He started the show with a double stroke roll and went on for several minutes. He then began moving to other drums but keeping the same double stroke roll rate going…back and forth between toms and snare…eventually this all evolved into a solo to open the set. Very musical and the way he segued into the tunes was stunningly cool.
He and Michael were friends so between shows, we went backstage and Michael introduced me to him. He was in his dressing room by himself, very gracious and greeted us warmly. Tony had a reputation of being rough at times and I kind of had that in my mind when we met, but it was completely the opposite. He was very friendly and relaxed. When I arrived at Drum World for my first day of teaching, there was Tony behind the counter talking to customers!
My teaching studio was directly across the hall from his, where he was conducting group classes. I could hear him in there sounding like he sounded on all those Miles and Herbie recordings. Cool stuff. Because we were right there close, we started hanging out after our teaching sessions and basically just bullshitting about everything. He was very interested in all kinds of music, knew what everyone was about and to my surprise, he knew about Future Sounds! He even asked me about it and would I show him what I was doing. Here’s Tony Williams asking DG to play for him! Initially, I was stunned and certainly honored, but but not intimidated in any, because he was so cool and genuinely interested!
We always talked a lot about the drums…he had some great ideas for building single strokes, which was a huge part of his concept. Interestingly, on one afternoon, I asked him about that opening solo and the double strokes. He said he was warming up and as he began moving from drum to drum, he was thinking like a horn player playing long tones…I’m thinking hell yes! Brilliant. He was so musical and thought in a very compositional way on his instrument. He also had been studying composition privately, which was his main focus at the time and allowed him to write for his band. His passing was sudden and a surprise that caught everyone off guard. I cherish the time we had together…too short…!!! Thank you my friend.
All The Best,
DG
David Garibaldi is best known for his work with the Oakland, California based band 'Tower of Power'. His playing style is considered a staple of funk music. Garibaldi’s drummer credits also include Natalie Cole, Jermaine Jackson, Boz Scaggs, Deniece Williams and Yellowjackets. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Garibaldi #46 on its list “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time”.