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The sound quality is awful. The distortion is overwhelming. The musical
effects are outdated. The vocals are abhorrent.
Now, I have stated all of the obligatory truths and conventional wisdom as
it has been previously applied to the recordings of The Tony Williams
Lifetime.
I now will also follow the path of all of those music critics before me who
claim Emergency to be one of the most important jazz records ever made.
Recorded in 1969, and painstakingly re-engineered and recorded by Polygram and
engineer Phil Schaap for a 1991 re-release,
Emergency
offered the music world an ear-splitting jazz-rock wake-up call.
For all of its flaws, Emergency must be listened to loud and understood in
the context of its day. Williams' chugging, brilliant, never flashy drumming
maintains the constant energy which kept the fires burning. Larry Young holds
done the "otherworldly" middle as his Hammond B-3 explores sonic registers, some
notes of which dogs can only hear. We must always remember that this was Tony
Williams' band and to that extent we must give him credit. But, it was much
more on Emergency than on Bitches Brew that
John McLaughlin began to wield a
highly dangerous guitar! McLaughlin is on the ultimate edge with playing in
Lifetime. His crooked and un-angular lines and dissonant chords full of
jangling distortion fill the ear. The mastery of this band was its cohesiveness
in the midst of exploration. And each musician explored frontiers like no one
before them.
Emergency opens with the title-cut and it is a jarring exercise of musical
energy. Ignore the vocals on "Beyond Games", but, still turn the volume up!
"Where", written by John McLaughlin but credited to Adam Hall is the album's highlight. It lasts
for over 12 minutes and is sustained throughout by the highest level of playing.
"Spectrum" was also recorded by McLaughlin on his own solo project
Extrapolation.
It receives a much rougher treatment here.
Lifetime truly was a "lifetime" ahead of its time as its commercial success
was dismal. But, luckily, we live in a time in which we can look back, listen
to Lifetime and admire the guts of it all.
Walter Kolosky
smsi@attbi.com
Walter Kolosky is a businessman and jazz fan who lives in South Natick, MA, USA
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