Tony Williams

Tony Williams was an acclaimed American jazz drummer who collaborated with some of the great jazz stars including Miles, Davis, Chet Baker and Herbie Hancock until his death from a heart attack in 1997 aged 51. He began playing as a child and studied with drummer Alan Dawson before joining Miles Davis's second quintet at the age of 17. He appeared on a huge number of recordings with other artists including the Great Jazz Trio and released several recordings as leader starting with 'Life Time' in 1964. Other releases included 'Emergency!' (1969), 'The Old Bum's Rush' (1972), 'Million Dollar Legs' (1976) and 'The Joy of Flying' (1979), which peaked at number 113 on the Billboard 200. 'Civilization' (1986) went to number three on Billboard's Traditional Jazz Albums chart. Later albums included 'Tokyo Live' (1992), 'Wilderness' (1995) and 'Young at Heart' (1996).