Mahavishnu's intensity, tremendous volume, challenging time signatures and sheer velocity of execution forced Cobham, as he would later admit, to compete physically in terms of stamina and speed, his performances a vital element in the success of musicians contemplate in how-does-he-do-it wonder. With the fiftieth anniversary of the release of his hit album Spectrum last year he has once again returned to the touring circuit, and UK audiences will have an opportunity of seeing a living legend as he headlines at the Love Supreme Festival on Saturday 6 July and at his 80th birthday celebration at the EFG London Jazz Festival on Wednesday 20 November at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Billy Cobham was born in Panama City on 16 May 1944, but was raised in Brooklyn from the age of three.
In those formative years he had two main interests: music and baseball.
"I worked in marching bands as a young person. It was one of the things that kept me off the street.
the band.
He massively expanded his drum kit with two bass drums; and the SA array of tuned tom-toms spread out in front were not for decoration. His renowned technical prowess enabled blisteringly fast fills around his tom-toms that still sound awesome today and were imitated by drummers around the world. As the Percussive Arts Society noted, "Billy Cobham is one of the very few who can be called a pivotal drummer in music history. He changed the way we set up our drums and cymbals, he changed the way we play them and he changed the way we play music."
Ever since his halcyon days in the 1970s and 1980s, Cobham's performances have been the stuff of legend, combining the techniques of jazz with the visceral
I played baseball in contests everywhere, that's the thing with being young, you really want to be the best at what you do," he reflects. Precociously talented, he passed the entrance examination for New York's High School Of Music And Art at the age of 14, an institution that attracted talented students across all New York boroughs, "I walked in with my rudimental procedures off pat because I worked extensively in marching bands. When I attended, my colleagues were Jimmy Owens, Eddie Gomez, Larry Willis - a great jazz pianist but he was a voice major then - Janis Ian, Laura Nyro, Fred Lipsius from Blood Sweat & Tears, Lew Soloff, power of rock, a compelling duality that audiences love and Billy behind his signature kit - Photo courtesy billycobham.com
Jazzwise ■ July 2024 - 19
TAMA