Tony Williams

The prodigy who revolutionized jazz drumming with Miles Davis at 17 and pioneered fusion with his band Lifetime.

Anthony Tillmon Williams joined Miles Davis's legendary Second Great Quintet at just 17 years old, immediately revolutionizing jazz drumming with his innovative use of polyrhythms and metric modulation. In 1970, critic Robert Christgau called him "probably the best drummer in the world." Williams later pioneered jazz fusion with his band Lifetime. His influence on jazz and fusion drumming is immeasurable, and he was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986.