Tony Williams has always been, and will always be one of my favorite drummers. His intensity, speed, and tone have yet to be matched by any drummer alive today.
This is a fantastic video of Tony Williams with Miles Davis in his famous second quintet on the tune Agitation. The original song can be heard on Miles Davis’ record ESP, recorded in 1965 with the same group. At the time of the video, it was 1967, and Tony Williams was only 22 years old.
Although the audio isn’t the best, it’s great to see how Tony looks so effortless when he plays. The video features Miles Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums:
Check out those signature quarter notes on the hi hat. Such a great drummer. Tony Williams and Miles Davis…not sure if there’s anything better.
