Tony Williams
Drums Solo on
Ellipsis

About

Tony Williams's drum solo is the third and final solo on "Ellipsis," the closing track of Sam Rivers's 1964 Blue Note debut Fuchsia Swing Song. A contrafact on the chord changes of "I Got Rhythm," the tune features Williams taking two choruses of the 32-bar AABA form at 218 BPM in B-flat, bringing the album to an energetic close. At just 18 to 19 years old, Williams's polyrhythmic ingenuity and explosive dynamic range are already fully developed, his drum solo providing a fitting conclusion to an album that announced Rivers as a major new force in jazz.

Tony Williams was 18 to 19 years old at the time.