"Return to Blue Note: Tony Williams in the Late 1980s"

[ghost of miles]

This week on Night Lights it’s the late-1980s acoustic quintet recordings of drummer Tony Williams. Williams was one of the great prodigies of jazz, playing with both Sam Rivers and Jackie McLean as a teenager before joining Miles Davis as part of the trumpeter’s now-legendary mid-1960s group. Williams also recorded two dates as a leader for Blue Note and went on to form the pioneering fusion trio Lifetime (with organist Larry Young and guitarist John McLaughlin). After a sabbatical in the early 1980s to hone his compositional skills, Williams came back to Blue Note and recorded a remarkable series of albums that highlighted his writing with a group featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney and pianist Mulgrew Miller. “Return to Blue Note: Tony Williams in the Late 1980s” airs Saturday, January 27 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville, and on Sunday evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives.

Last week's "A Few Words About Jazz" program, including an interview with jazz historian John Gennari, is now archived, including some extra quotes that didn't make it into the show.

Next week: "We Shall Overcome: Civil-Rights Jazz."

Edited November 17, 2010 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

This program is at long last archived.

Edited November 17, 2010 by ghost of miles

[sidewinder]

Just listening to this excellent show. Too bad those LPs didn't sell too well. I remember picking up the 'Civilization' LP when it came out (an unexpected bolt from the blue after all those fusion albums) and played it endlessly at the time. Heard live at this time, Williams was also furiously loud - as you say in the programme, very much a conscious decision. Caught him backstage after a 1989 performance and he was sat on a step looking absolutely exhausted, sweat pouring off. Wouldn't give me the time of day.

Edited February 5, 2007 by sidewinder

[ghost of miles]

Glad you liked the show, Sidewinder. There was some discussion of Williams recently in the Artists forum (you might have caught it already) and I posted some comments about TW from Wallace Roney halfway down this page.

I can't remember where I came across this--I think it might be alluded to in the Mosaic booklet, but I found the name somewhere else--Terence Blanchard was the trumpeter originally scheduled to make the FOREIGN INTRIGUE date, and Roney was a last-minute substitution.

[ghost of miles]

This week on Night Lights it’s the late-1980s acoustic quintet recordings of drummer Tony Williams. Williams was one of the great prodigies of jazz, playing with both Sam Rivers and Jackie McLean as a teenager before joining Miles Davis as part of the trumpeter’s now-legendary mid-1960s group. Williams also recorded two dates as a leader for Blue Note and went on to form the pioneering fusion trio Lifetime (with organist Larry Young and guitarist John McLaughlin). After a sabbatical in the early 1980s to hone his compositional skills, Williams came back to Blue Note and recorded a remarkable series of albums that highlighted his writing with a group featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney and pianist Mulgrew Miller. “Return to Blue Note: Tony Williams in the Late 1980s” airs Saturday, January 27 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville, and on Sunday evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives.

We re-aired this program last week and it remains archived for online listening.