BILLY COBHAM

Panamanian born BILLY COBHAM moved to the USA at the tender age of 3 and started playing drums the very next year at 4 in his new Brooklyn, NY based place of youth and would go on to study at The High School of Music & Art. Unfortunately COBHAM got drafted into the US Army in 1965 but escaped the battlefields of Vietnam by playing in the US Army band but it was after his discharge when his career really took off when he played with Horace Silver and as a session musician for bands such as CTI and Kudu. After a short gig in the band Dreams with other jazz greats like Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker and John Abercombie, COBHAM hit the big time by appearing on Miles Davis' early contributions to the fledgling jazz-fusion scene on the classic albums 'Bitches Brew' and 'A Tribute To Jack Johnson.'

It was playing with Miles where BILLY met another up and coming jazz-fusionist, John McLaughlin and the two would continue on to start one of the early 70s most revered bands in the form of the Mahavishnu Orchestra which took jazz, rock and ethnic fusion into the stratosphere and in the process created one of the most successful progressive bands of the entire era. The band played extensive gigs and released three albums but none of the members were really interested in the glory of rock star superstardom and the pressures and fatigue set in and the band fell apart. Fresh from the exhaustive journey with the Mahavishnus, BILLY COBHAM wasted no time working on his own material for his solo album and after recruiting a handful of talented musicians to accompany him on his new endeavors. The wheels were greased for the making of BILLY's debut release SPECTRUM which emerged in 1973 just as the Mahavishnu Orchestra was calling it quits.

In many ways SPECTRUM was a recap of COBHAM's previous works with Miles Davis, the Mahavishnu Orchestra with the funk jazz of artists like Herbie Hancock. The album consists of six tracks of which three have subparts used as intros. The album is basically a mix of two lineups with COBHAM leading the way behind his massive drum kits along with keyboardist Jan Hammer following his footsteps fresh from the Mahavishnus himself. The rest of the musicians were technically sessions musicians with guitarist and future Deep Purple member Tommy Bolin and bassist Lee Sklar playing on four tracks ("Quadrant 4", "Taurian Matador", "Stratus" and "Red Baron') and saxist, flautist Joe Farrell, flugelhorn player and trumpets Jimmy Owens, guitarist John Tropea, acoustic bassist Ron Carter and conga player Ray Barretto playing on the other two tracks ("Spectrum" and "Le Lis.')

This was COBHAM's debut as a composer and he steered his new musical creation into extremely diverse territories that offer a taste of the fiery bombast of what the Mahavishnu Orchestra offered as well as tender atmospheric funk driven grooves that offer touches of the zeitgeist of 60s psychedelia along with the Panamanian Latin roots of COBHAM's origins. The album was also a surprise hit for COBHAM as it hit #1 on the jazz album charts and #26 on the Billboard album charts signifying that the fans were along for the ride for COBHAM's next musical career change. The album is electrified from the very beginning as 'Quadrant 4' opens with an eruption of percussive beats and a ripping guitar solo that continues to build up steam until the bass and keys join into generate a top notch funkified jazz-fusion sound that marries the jazz-fusion sensibilities of Miles Davis with a fiery brand of heavy rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and many other popular bands of the era.

After the no nonsense opening bravado, 'Searching For The Right Door / Spectrum' begins the process of more thoughtful jazz fueled compositions. Once again opening with a strong drumming solo performance the track bursts into the guitar free zone with the emphasis firmly placed on the Moog synthesizer, flute and ever present groovy bass. The track takes on some Mahavishnu characteristic with demanding time signature changes and keyboard tradeoffs along with some sizzling sax workouts along with a tremendously tempestuous trumpet performance. 'Anxiety / Taurian Matador' as the name implies begins with a fiery heavy rock drum soloing intro before another cleverly composed mix of jazz, rock and funk only Bolin's guitar antics that began the album are on full display once again.

'Stratus' exhibits a more disciplined restraint with subtle atmospheric constructs slowly percolating up to the point COBHAM begins to deliver another stellar drumming frenzy with some experimental electronic keyboard touches but ultimate three minutes in the track turns into a groovy bass driven track with funk guitar only augmented with jazzy chord progressions and a controlled series of guitar licks that lead to more energetic outbursts of freneticism that manage to maintain a firm grip on the overall melodic construct. 'To The Woman In My Life / Le Lis' starts out as a piano ballad but quickly becomes a swinging sultry display of a groovy bass along with beautiful wind instrumentation. It's also unusual in that COBHAM didn't play on the track and allowed Hammer to create an unaccompanied piano piece. The album ends as brilliantly as it began with the ridiculously cool 'Snoopy's Search / Red Baron' which starts a series of experimental synthesized sound effects that sound like something off of a Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream album before finishing the album off with another strong jazz-fusion meets keyboard funk number with the now well established virtuosic displays of percussive drives and keyboard wizardry.

SPECTRUM may not have been as revolutionary as COBHAM's works with Davis or the Mahavishnus but what he does accomplish on his debut album is to prove once and for all why COBHAM has been designated as THE top drummer in all the world of the jazz- fusion. Not only does he display a cool as a cucumber approach of restraint and a healthy mix of both allowing the other musicians to have their moments as well as letting loose himself but he also showcased his abilities as a composer that nurtured six super strong tracks into fruition. I have to admit that SPECTRUM was somewhat of a grower. It struck me instantly as a 4 star album for its brilliant performances but only after several listens did the subtle start to seep into my consciousness. SPECTRUM may not be a free for all display of virtuosic wankery that defined the Mahavishnu Orchestra and it may not carry the same abstract detachment and musical construct of the more surreal moments of Miles Davis but rather it took elements from both and crafted a more accessible funk fueled visionary approach that would be made popular by fellow jazz artists like Herbie Hancock. In other words, this is a flawless and totally fun album.

I'll start with what I perceive as the weak spot of Stratus: it sounds like safe, "smooth jazz" in places. "AC/DC" and "Total Eclipse" are prime examples, although each has its charms, and the piano work on "Total Eclipse" is excellent. But overall, I get the feeling that five excellent but risk-averse musicians got together for a gig and nailed their parts on the first take.

OK, now that's out of the way. Stratus is a good listen. Compared to Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire - - the other album I have that features Cobham - - Stratus is less adventurous but more consistent. Interestingly, this is true of the drumming as well. I'm not sure if this is common when the bandleader is the drummer, but Cobham opens the album with a half- minute solo, which he picks back up on side two for another three and a half minutes. And that's pretty much it. The rest of the time, the spotlight is on someone else in the band - - not the guy who's name is on the cover.

And the other members of the band are great too, especially bassist Tim Landers and violinist Michał Urbaniak. The quintet was rounded out by Mike Stern (guitar) and Gil Goldstein (keyboards). Urbaniak and Stern each later played with Miles Davis, for whom Cobham played on "Feio" from Bitches Brew. While Cobham wrote four of the tracks on the album, the other four musicians wrote one apiece.

Stratus may not be an essential fusion album, but it's a good one. Three stars.

A mixed back of first-class fusion music, mediocre fun attempts with vocals and keyboards to funky songs - this record showcases all musical career stages in the 70's. The best tracks are instrumental ones and longer ones. Guitar playing is tasty and subdued, keyboards are versatile and omnipresent, the drums are dynamic and the bass is a decent complement. One track is features Cobham on electronic drums. I had acquired the CD long time ago but still find it pleasant due to its quirks and interesting line-up. It's a pity that the album clocks at only 46 minutes - normal concerts are much longer. Recommended to all 70's fusion fans as this is one of the better efforts.

The best live performance by Billy Cobham - all performances are motivated, precise and filled with energy. The two new tracks are focused around drums, "Shabazz" being more of a band effort then "Tenth Pinn". The brass section sounds more live than on any of BH studio albums and shows also more presence. The first and foremost purpose here is a jam feeling - instead of playing by notes, improvisation is highlighted.

Good old times are remembered with "Taurian Matador" with frenetic guitar runs, drum patterns. Wait for the masterful clavinet solo in the middle of the track that flows into Fender Rhodes improvisation. "Red Baron" is the only laid-back grooving track - sounds better live than on the studio album. "Tenth PInn" is by its discohesiveness not too far away from Miles Davis late 60's output - experimental, searching and ear-provoking. This track is an acquired taste for patient and depth-looking listeners. A great live record with fusion in the centerfield unlike later live albums.

Even more ambitious than the previous first two records and almost as good in execution as the debut album, on Total Eclipse, maturity is nice mixed with young explosiveness and energy. This record offers a right mixture of complexity, player dexterity, compositional quality and side players involvement.

The first epic track is a modular suite and ranges from mellow passages to drum solo and torrid fusion jam. The beginning has a progressive rock driven pattern but the drumming intensity is clearly a trademark of Cobham ;) Everybody wakes up to these devilish guitar and drum interplay followed by piano/brass loaded intermezzos. Second Phase reliefs the tension with soft piano licks and transforms into a George-Duke-like funky territory. In the style krieg, the familiar fusion motive takes over and hellish tempo welcomes the listener. A fabulous composition!

"Lunarputians" reminds me of Eleventh House - it is a well coloured accessible energetic short track.

"Total Eclipse" meanders between funky and fusion side of things. Of note is jazzy piano stylistically closer to traditional bop than funk - a great contribution by Milcho Leviev. John Abercrombie tasteful play comes into spotlight by the end of the track.

"Bandits" is noteworthy because of drum and bass duo, the track is clearly not here to impress compositionally but to show the instrumental capabilities of the rhythm section.

Another killer drum pattern comes in "Sea of tranquility" - sounds calm at first listen but it keeps being busy. The brass players make a great job here with plethora of instruments - flugelhorn, saxophone, trumpets, etc. This track continues being intensive despite its name and laid-back atmosphere.

The last track gives way to a long drummer's solo and unpretentious reflection of the piano player.

Only slightly below the first Cobham's record and still 4.5 stars!

The most influential fusion drummer's album and a great but very ambitions start for any drummer. Incredible drumming versatility and ferocity, muscular bass, fantastic guitar solo and a decent keyboard accompaniment by the keyboard start Jan Hammer. The first song is a hymn to the rock'n'roll furious fusion high-temperature cooking with drums and guitar taking the lead. Notice the unusually ferocious bass drums and guitar solo licks. Fantastic drum solo brings is into "Spectrum" with a typical fusion feeling marked by typical busy Cobham drumming and instrumental contributions by brass and keyboard players. Drums are very distinct in the mix sometimes even echoed. Billy is very creative and always chooses different fills or textures to follow. This is the best overall fusion track on the record. "Taurian Matador" showcases Cobham's soloing abilities. It sounds close to Mahavishnu Orchestra, all players having enough possibilities to stretch. "Stratus" is the most known track due to the bass line - has been reproduced many times since. It has a laid-back and friendly feeling that usually feels from usual Mahavishnu Orchestra compositions. This track is very consumable even by non-fusion but still open fans. Similar holds for a slightly more experimental "Red Baron" A must have record for any fusion or progressive-driven fan.

Billy Cobham's debut is a jazz fusion classic.

Being written entirely by a drummer, this album is obviously quite drum-centric. And there's no problem with that because even though drums are the highlight of the album, there's still plenty of time to appreciate the other players, such as Tommy Bolin (soon to join Deep Purple) on guitar and Jan Hammer on keys. "Spectrum" is very evocative of urban, nocturnal moods and ranges from exhilarating up-tempo jams ("Quadrant 4") to subdued, more "pornographic" soundscapes, such as "Le Lis" and it's not hard to get lost in the grooves and get swept away by the music, which is exactly what great jazz should do. The production on the album is strong throughout and there are no weak performances. The only reason that I'm tempted to give this a 4 star review as opposed to declaring it a fusion masterpiece is due to the fact that the album was recorded very spontaneously in only 2 days and as a result a lot of the compositions don't seem fleshed out. The shorter tracks, especially the drum solos, tend not to move the listener nearly as much as the longer pieces, such as "Stratus" and "Red Baron".

While not being "perfect", "Spectrum is still a jazz fusion album that anyone can get into and that I would highly, highly recommend for drummers to listen to. 4 stars.

It's quite funny that I only paid attention to this solo album by one of my favourite drummers only recently after decades of its release. As far as my childhood experience I only knew basically two albums Spectrum and A Funky Tide of Sings. Spectrum was special during my childhood as it was the first time I knew a talented young guitarist who latter become Ritchie Blackmore's replacement in Deep Purple sometime in 1975.

It's now quite surprising to me that I enjoy Total Eclipse very much especially the opening track Solarization which I consider it as not only a jazz rock composition but it's crafted with progressive mind as structurally the music comprises some movements: Solarization/Second Phase/Crescent Sun/Voyage/Solarization-Recapitulation with overall duration of 11 minutes plus. If I look at the style changes there are many I can find from the opening track. But it's not only that; this track is beautifully composed from start to end with great jaw-dropping drumwork by Cobham. It's really nice opening.

The following track Lunarputians (2:33) is stil another excellent track maintaining the gestures of brass section, similar with the opening track. Again I can hear how wonderful the drum work which does not only serve as beat keeper at the end of the segment but play vital role as one important thing to listen altogether with brass section. The album title track Total Eclipse (5:59) has a slower tempo music unlike the first two but it still maintain great nuances created from the first two tracks. The only difference is the more exploration of piano but still maintaining great brass section augmented beautifully with drumwork. When I say "great" brass section I mean it's excellently played and it produces really great sound especially if you use a decent stereo set. I do enjoy it very much.

Other tracks that are of interest are Moon Germs (4:54) which reminds me back to the first two tracks of this album - really worth listening; and also Sea Of Tranquility (10:44) - another wonderfully crafted long track started with ambient piano work and it moves excellently in crescendo , blending all brass section and its solo and again ....great drumwork. The concluding track Last Frontier (5:22) demonstrates Cobham's great drum solo.

I can not say this album other than excellent as the music is wonderfully crafted and Cobham's distinctive drumming demonstrated clearly throughout the album. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

TN;DL

One of the recent (and, probably, still on-going) discussions here on the Forum has been about "shredding vs. virtuosity", or something to this effect. This prompted me to describe how I feel about a few very highly rated albums from the Heroic Age of jazz/rock.

Faithful to the elated spirit of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds and Emerald, the players on the Spectrum relentlessly thrash the bejesus out of their instruments, mostly in the first part of the album. I can't seem to be able to "listen past" all the neurotic shredding to get through to the music itself. Interestingly, I have no difficulty consuming almost unlimited amounts of (post) bop, which can be very intense and may appear all over the place, yet everything, all the loose strands and bouncy bits come together to form great music.

To sum up: Too Noisy; Didn't Listen. Well, I did listen, but couldn't enjoy, although I do recognize the value of the energy and the boldness of Billy Cobham's Spectrum.

It's a pity that no one has ever reviewed this very decent album by Billy Cobham which I consider worth collecting for couple of reasons. First off, it has a very good composition that you might not realize that it's written by a drummer - an excellent drummer, in fact. I have known Billy Cobham long time ago since 70s when he made 'Spectrum' album where he recruited Tommy Bolin of Deep Purple fame to fill-up he guitar work. The compositions he wrote here in this album has very good melody line typically demonstrated through keyboards and/or piano work. The best melody is basically the second track 'Red and Yellow Cabriolet' which has keyboard as melody maker of the song. Billy has proved himself that he is not just a drummer but also an excellent composer! In addition to that, the music has very good dynamics in almost every single track except the slow one 'Slow Body Poppin' '. Most importantly the whole album moves beautifully from start to end and it forms a cohesive whole. Yes, it has a solid structural integrity so that the music sounds like an album not a collection of songs.

Second, you can enjoy the beauty of Billy's drumming style even though he does not perform any drum solo work like he did with his previous album 'A Funky Thide of Sings'. He does solo work as transition pieces in some tracks which is I consider good enough, musically. He also let Sa Davis to perform his percussion work dynamically has does under some tracks like 'Red and Yellow Cabriolet' I basically enjoy his drumming style from the opening track 'Mozaik' where it has piano work and some short drum solo during the transition pieces. He then demonstrate that the second track 'Red and Yellow Cabriolet' has a solid and memorable melody through the keyboard work. Billy also inserts the new version of Stratus where he omits the guitar work and replaces it with keyboard. I think this new version of Stratus is good as another kind of the original.

Overall, this is a very good album by Billy Cobham and it deserves a 3.5 ratings . For those of you who like jazz-rock fusion music, I bet you'd like it. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW