Jazz Articles about Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham's Art of 5

by Christopher Jones
March 11, 2003

Billy Cobham and The Art of 5 Jazz Alley; Seattle March 6th, 2003

I came to Billy Cobham not through Mahavishnu, but through video footage of him playing with Horace Silver’s group in the late 60s. Initially I mistook him for Roger Humphries, who of course had appeared on some of Silver’s well-known albums during that decade. I was later corrected by a friend of mine, who not only told me that it was indeed Cobham, ...

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

by Jim Santella
April 12, 2002

The CTI jazz catalog holds many surprises. This one features a strong 8-piece band led by organist Johnny Hammond (1933-1997), who was known earlier as Johnny “Hammond" Smith. Recorded in 1971, the album emphasized swinging mood music with a flair for popular sounds. It marked a turning point in the career of Grover Washington, Jr. He, Hank Crawford and Eric Gale are all over the place, alongside Hammond's B-3. It’s a party. A previously unissued track, recorded shortly after the ...

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

by David Rickert
April 12, 2002

A prime example of the CTI label’s indulgence in the commercial possibilities of jazz, Breakout gave Johnny Hammond the opportunity to escape from the long shadow cast by Jimmy Smith. Sticking with the Hammond B-3, by this time a bit old-fashioned as many had become enchanted with the Fender Rhodes, Hammond and his band contribute an album’s worth of soul jazz workouts. By this time, rock tunes had become the new would-be standards and Hammond proves that such unlikely candidates ...

Billy Cobham: Rudiments: The Billy Cobham Anthology

by Todd S. Jenkins
September 1, 2001

The Good Book of fusion drumming, culled from a half-dozen years in the life of Billy Cobham. After serving in drum corps, the High School of Music and Arts, and the Army band, as well as gigging and recording with Kenny Burrell, George Benson and Junior Mance, Panamanian native Cobham was finally recommended by Jack DeJohnette to Miles Davis in 1969. Things took off like a bullet from there, and soon enough Cobham was firmly established as the Hot New ...

Billy Cobham: Rudiments: The Billy Cobham Anthology

by C. Michael Bailey
September 1, 2001

Loud and Proud.

Rudiments: the Billy Cobham Anthology is a representative collection of songs associated with drummer-composer-bandleader-producer Billy Cobham assembled from the highlights of eight Atlantic releases between 1973 and 1978. This was a particularly fruitful time for Cobham that saw the percussionist recording with the likes of the late Tommy Bolin, Jan Hammer, George Duke, Michael and Randy Brecker, John Scofield, Cornell Dupree, and John Abercrombie. The songs are taken from: Spectrum (Atlantic 7268, 1973)Crosswinds (Atlantic 7300, 1974) Total ...

Miles Davis: On The Corner / Get Up With It

by Todd S. Jenkins
September 1, 2000

Columbia/Legacy is embarking upon a hot fusion reissue program, reshaping many of their classic albums via digital technology to make the roots of today’s music more relevant. Among the first reissues slated for 2000 are two of Miles Davis’ most misunderstood but oddly influential offerings, “On The Corner” and “Get Up With It”. At the “On The Corner” sessions Miles went nuts with electric eclecticism. He hooked a pickup and wah-wah pedal to his trumpet, hired three drummers and three ...

Miles Davis: On The Corner / Get Up With It

by Todd S. Jenkins
September 1, 2000

Columbia/Legacy is embarking upon a hot fusion reissue program, reshaping many of their classic albums via digital technology to make the roots of today’s music more relevant. Among the first reissues slated for 2000 are two of Miles Davis’ most misunderstood but oddly influential offerings, “On The Corner” and “Get Up With It”. At the “On The Corner” sessions Miles went nuts with electric eclecticism. He hooked a pickup and wah-wah pedal to his trumpet, hired three drummers and three ...