Not So Modern Drummer celebrates the life and music of Legendary Drummer Tony Williams in our new ongoing series. Chapter Three presents the personal commentary and recollections of Terry Silverlight.
I first heard Tony Williams on Miles Davis’s “Seven Steps To Heaven” album when I was ten years old. I thought it was cool that, although he was influenced by the lineage of jazz drummers that came before him, he had found his own voice especially at such an early age.
When I was fourteen years old, I played drums on my first recording led by my brother Barry Miles that included Pat Martino, John Abercrombie, Lew Tabackin, Victor Gaskin and Warren Smith. The music Barry had written was different than anything I had heard until that point, so there was no choice but for me to figure out what and how to play something that would be the right fit, in my own voice. Knowing that Tony Williams had done that being so young, it inspired me to try and make that happen for myself.
Tony was also a great conceptualist, composer and bandleader. That too inspired me and I admired how he not only was interested in expanding the boundaries of drumming, but also explored other facets of music.
Tony Williams has always been one of my heroes.