It seems as the years past, the l egacy of drummer Tony Williams gets larger and larger, with “historical” releases or reissues of his albums as leader or sideman bringing out new aspects of the ground breaking artist. The latest find is a trio setting from 1980 with keyboardist Tom Grant and bassist Patrick O’Hearn. This is an important release, as it fills in a gap between Williams’ 1978 fusion The Joy of Flying and his straightahead 1985 album Foreign Intrigue.
This album of five songs has almost a jam session feel, filled with energetic purpulsions. The songs range from 6-11 minutes, with lots of synthy splashes as Williams rides the cymbals on the stagnant “The Big Man” while rocking out with an avalanche of a drum solo as an intro and centerpiece on “Beach Ball Tango”. Williams rumbles the rocks as Grant sears out a synth solo on “Jam Tune”, while the team smooths out on a Weather Reportish “There Comes A Time”. Most noirish is the Joe Sample-inspired “Para Oriente” with a soul groove rich chords. This would have been an intriguing band to see in concert. Any bootlegs to whet our palate?