“Back in 1968 I saw Tony Williams and John McLaughlin at the Jazz Workshop in Boston on Boylston Street. It was the size of your living room, you’re stepping all over each other, you’re practically on top of the band. Tony Williams just absolutely blew my mind. I was in awe – I got it! But jazz was beyond my comprehension. I got goosebumps listening to rock n’ roll and rhythm and blues and Otis Redding but I was never a jazz cat. I was never really interested in listening to the Miles records or Buddy Rich. I knew they were fantastic but the music didn’t speak to me.”

Before interviewing Andy Newmark, I searched around and listened to him explain auditioning for Sly Stone in Sly’s bedroom and how he added his Tony Williams imitation. I wanted to know more about Tony Williams compositions but his takeaway was focussed primarily on the drumming. Nice to imagine seeing such iconic players before any fanfare, “Why did Tony Williams speak to you?”

“Because he wasn’t playing be bop. It was his version of rock. Eight notes. It wasn’t ding, digga ding, digga ding, digga ding, (plays an imaginary ride cymbal) – you know? Those fast tempos and y’know boom boom boom boom boom boom, (plays an imaginary upright bassist) – all that be bop stuff. It was “rock”, eight notes, but with him taking it out.”

“Could you hear the purpose in their improvising? The concepts of the compositions?”

“Well I didn’t understand what John McLaughlin and Larry Young were doing. I don’t have the brain power to clock the notes and the harmony and all that stuff with sax players and guitar players – it is only drummers that I get a feeling from. I have no idea what the guitar players like John McLaughlin are doing most of the time. I don’t know – he’s working on a Lydian scale/ but he’s mixing it up /and he’s moving from major to minor/ blah blah blah…. I am not harmonic. I don’t know anything about it. I love the overall assault to my brain – but Tony Williams!! I understood exactly what he was playing because I’m a drummer. Wow, he’s doing that! Holy shit he’s doing this! Wow look what he’s doing with his hi hat! I know about drums so I was like holy fuck this is outrageous, this guy is on fire!