Disc 1:
1. Emergency
2. Where
3. Vashkar
4. Spectrum
5. Sangria For Three
6. To Whom It May Concern-Them
7. To Whom It May Concern-Us
8. Big Nick
9. Right On
10. Vuelta Abaja
11. A Famous Blues
12. Allah Be Praised

Disc 2:
1. One Word
2. There Comes A Time
3. Circa 45
4. Two Worlds
5. Some Hip Drum Shit
6. Lonesome Wells
7. Mom And Dad
8. The Urchins Of Shermese
9. You Make It Easy
10. Whatcha Gonna Do Today
11. The Mystic Knights Of The Sea
12. Boodang
13. The Old Bum's Rush

Album Notes:
Personnel: Tony Williams (vocals, drums); Tequila (vocals, guitar, percussion); John McLaughlin (vocals, guitar); Jack Bruce (vocals, bass); Tillmon Williams (tenor saxophone); Ron Carter (cello, bass); David Horowitz (piano, ARP synthesizer, vibraphone); Webster Lewis (clavinette, organ); Larry "Khalid Yasin" Young (organ); Ted Dunbar (guitar); Herb Bushler (bass); Don Alias, Warren Smith (percussion).

Producers: Monte Kay, Jack Lewis, Tony Williams, Ben Sidran.

Compilation producer: Jerry Rappaport.

Engineers: Gene Radice, Ray Hall, Berred.

Recorded at Olmstead Sound Studios, New York, New York and Intermedia Sound, Boston, Massachusetts. Includes liner notes by John McDermott.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

In 1969, following his stint with the groundbreaking (MILES SMILES era) Miles Davis Quintet, drummer extraordinaire Williams decided to strike out on his own. His solo project, the Tony Williams Lifetime, merged his visionary modern-jazz ideas with his love for electric rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and Cream. The initial version of the band was an update of the classic jazz-organ trio, with pre-Mahavishnu John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ.

SPECTRUM preserves the legacy of this innovative band on two discs of spirited, largely improvisatory, electric workouts. For the Tony Williams Lifetime (eventually expanded to include bassist Jack Bruce), the term jazz-rock meant something more than endless wanking and fancy time changes. Williams' aggressive' post-Elvin Jones polyrhythms, Young's avant-garde harmonic approach and McLaughlin's fiery solos combined to create an exhilarating world of sound that makes you wonder where the fusion artists of the '70s went wrong. Fusioneers from Soft Machine to Medeski, Martin & Wood owe their musical souls, if not a percentage of their royalty checks, to the Tony Williams Lifetime.

Album Review:
Entertainment Weekly (3/21/97, p.74) - "...the fury Williams, guitarist John McLaughlin, and organist Larry Young evoked in 1969-70 on the two-CD SPECTRUM still sounds edgy like some avant-bop meltdown of Ornette Coleman and the Velvet Underground..." - Rating: A-

Taken from: CD Universe page

Feb 25, 1997

CD

Verve 537075