Along with Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire and Love Cry Want’s self-titled LP, the Tony Williams Lifetime's Emergency! ranks among the best records to convince jazz-rock haters that the genre is not only worth your time, it’s a goddamn mind-bomb. Finally taking up the role of band leader after years of incredibly dexterous drumming for one of Miles Davis’s hottest groups, Tony Williams enlisted fellow Miles sidemen John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ for Emergency!. Together, the trio fused fiery instrumental interplay with precision riffing and rhythming. It’s as if peak-years Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James formed a basketball team and decided to unleash all of their most athletic moves for one game. For this tribute, local greats D’Vonne Lewis (drums), Joe Doria (organ), and Cole Schuster (guitar) will put this explosive, inspirational LP through its paces. by Dave Segal