Billy Cobham
I know where I was when Kennedy was shot. So do most of my friends.
I know where I was when Mankind first walked on the Moon. So do most of my friends.
I also know where I was the first time I heard Billy Cobham play.
So do most of my friends.
Billy Cobham landed in the center of popular music in 1971 with the Mahavishnu Orchestra almost without context—as if he and Mahavishnu were aliens landing in Central Park in broad daylight. Many times, even among Drummeradio’s guests, I have heard drummers wonder aloud “what planet he came from”. Of course his radical-at-the-time sound was the result of dedicated work applied to great talent, but the surprise to the rest of us lives on. Billy gave drummers who hit hard permission to play with precision, and he gave drummers who play with precision permission to hit hard. Drumming has never been the same since, and everyone who sits down behind a drumset owes some debt to Mr. Cobham.
He has worn the mantle of his legendary status well, though. Always a generous teacher, Billy has directly helped along several of the drummers who are guests on the Drummeradio show, along with countless others. Education is still a major part of his work in music. It also spreads to humanitarian work, including projects with UNESCO to help street kids make instruments, as well as work in his native Panama.
Billy Cobham stands as a major player in the evolution of drumming, and since so many have looked to him for inspiration and claimed him as an influence, I am excited to listen with him to the tracks that he himself labels as important.
Listen to the Billy Cobham Podcast
Billy Cobham Playlist
A Funky Kind of Thing – Billy Cobham
Album: A Funky Thide of Sings, 1975
Drums: Billy Cobham
Congas: Rebop Kwaku Baah
Spanish Moss – A Sound Portrait – Billy Cobham
Album: Crosswinds, 1974
Drums: Billy Cobham
Latin Percussioon: Lee Pastora
Danse for Noh Masque – Billy Cobham
Album: Picture This, 1987
Drums and electronic Percussion: Billy Cobham
Skin Deep – Duke Ellington
Live recording excerpt, 1957
Drums: Louie Bellson
Drums Unlimited – Max Roach
Album: Drums Unlimited, 1966
Sal Si Puedes – Billy Cobham
Album: Tales From the Skeleton Coast, 2014
Drums & Percussion: Billy Cobham
Latin Percussion: Marco Lobo
Reunion #9 – Billy Cobham
Album: Tales From the Skeleton Coast, 2014
Drums & Percussion: Billy Cobham
Latin Percussion: Marco Lobo
West Side Story Medley – The Buddy Rich Big Band
Excerpt from live concert recording, 1966
Drums: Buddy Rich
Konakkol Conversation – Billy Cobham
Album: Tales From the Skeleton Coast, 2014
Drums: Billy Cobham
Knakkol & Vocals: Joel de Almeida
