The following is from a bulletin from Vernon Reid that went out this morning...

Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute - Japan - December 14-19th

December 14th - Yokohama @ Motion Blue
December 15th - 19th - Tokyo @ Blue Note
Featuring : Vernon Reid, Jack Bruce, John Medeski and Cindy Blackman

"This idea really started a long time ago with the tragic untimely death of Mr. Williams. He
was and remains a great hero to many of us; not just for his incredible mastery of the
drums, but for his intensely visionary gifts as a composer and songwriter. I've had the
great fortune to work with the extraordinary bassist Jack Bruce of Cream, and during a
tour with him started to chat about Tony Williams and Lifetime and their close personal
relationship. I thought of Cyndi Blackman, a true devotee of Mr. Williams whose work in
that regard is not as well known as her long association with the rock star Lenny Kravitz.
Cyndi is a gifted composer in her own right and as such has real insight into Mr. Williams,
not only as a master percussionist, but as a creator as well. John Medeski is a keyboard
artist of true originality, whose organ work evokes the mysterious power of the vastly
under appreciated Larry Young whose moody swing and avant energy was a powerful force
within the ensemble. John McLaughlin has been a major influence on me as a guitarist,
mainly from the later Mahavishnu period, seeds of which were sown in Tony Williams
Lifetime as well as his tenure with the great Miles Davis. This project is a way to celebrate
a great unique voice at the nexus of Jazz and Rock; a true original."

For the record, I agree with Vernon about nearly all of the above, especially Cindy
Blackman and Tony Williams - her early recordings on Muse were the closest thing to
Tony's playing I ever heard...other than Tony.

 

Not a thing other than the Japanese tour.

 

I have one reference point : Nels Cline's impromptu tribute very soon after Williams' very untimely death with his brother on drums and organist Wayne Heep - Henry Kaiser recorded the show for possible release but Nels tells me he is unhappy about the amount of cock-ups. I've heard a very good quality bootleg and have to say it has all the energy I heard in my very first jazz rock fusion album, Lifetime's Turn It Over. I trust Reid and Co. manage to capture this aspect as well.