Tony WIliams Trio - Young at Heart (1996)

Anthony Tillmon "Tony" Williams (December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997) was maybe the most important and influential jazz drummer to come to prominence in the 1960s; he first gained fame in Miles Davis' second great quintet at the impossibly young age of 17 along with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Wayne Shorter (as a minor he had to obtain a special police permit to play at jazz joints with the Davis band), so much so he was called by Davis in his autobiography "the center that the group's sound revolved around". His inventive playing helped redefine the role of jazz rhythm section through the use of polyrhythms and metric modulation (transitioning between mathematically related tempos and/or time signatures). As if the above weren't enough, after leaving Miles he formed his own group, Tony Williams Lifetime with John McLaughlin and Larry Young that defined the fusion sound of the 60s and 70s. Yes, Williams loved rock and his playing could be very loud.

Tony Williams was robbed from jazz from a heart attack following routine gall bladder surgery; he was just 51. This, his final recording just 6 months before his untimely death, shows Williams in a more conciliatory mood, sublimating his huge chops and bombastic style for subtler shadings and support for pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Ira Coleman, while lessening none of his indefatigable swing as can be heard from their formidable interplay throughout, a fitting farewell from this jazz giant who always stayed young at heart as the album title suggests.

personnel:
Tony Williams - d
Mulgrew Miller - p
Ira Coleman - b


track listing:
1.Promethean
2.Young at Heart
3.On Green Dolphin Street
4.Farewell to Dogma
5.How My Heart Sings
6.The Fool on the Hill
7.Neptune: Fear Not
8.You and the Night and the Music
9. Body and Soul
10.This Here
11.Summer Me, Winter Me

rec. 1996