Billy Cobham

I wish I could have been there for that one. Cobham, of course, is a legend. That goes without saying.

But Gary Husband is a marvel. He's an incredible drummer and an even better keyboard player. Just wow. I first head him play on Holdsworth's "Atavachron" when I was in college and I recall the music being so far above my understanding that I just had to know what the hell was going on there.

Then I found out he was an even better piano player and I was left in the dust, with my jaw hanging, by his awesomeness.
 
I see he's still playing those huge kits. Sweet. Sounds like a great show. I love that Gary Husband was playing keys. How cool is that?

Like you, I have piano regrets. I basically abandoned the piano completely in favor of the drums. I should have tried to keep up with the piano a little bit.

Speaking of keyboardist drummers, have you seen Andy Stack play? He takes it to another level:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8S8OECLfNI

Regarding your editorial note on ticket prices, this is something I'm troubled by too. Back in the 80s, I was just a scruffy 13-year-old with a paper route who loved Van Halen. When the VH show came to town, I was easily able to pay the $15 ticket price out of my own pocket to see them. Even more striking is this quote from Roy Burns, who described arriving in NYC in the late 50s:

It was a hotbed of drummers. You could go out to 6 or 7 nightclubs any night of the week for very little money and see Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Joe Morello...I mean all these great drummers were working all the time. There were two or three great guys in town every night. You just went from one club to the next and it was like taking a free music lesson. It cost you 2 or 3 bucks to get in and you could stay for as long as you wanted. You couldn't go to a better university than seeing those guys play in person up close. Not like a concert. You could be sitting 10 feet from the drum set.

Obviously, such opportunities are not available anymore, and with tickets for A-list performers rising to hundreds of dollars, I feel like it's becoming entertainment for the affluent, rather than for everyone. I don't think this is good for music or for society at large. I understand that album sales have cratered, and live performance is where many artists make their money now, but I don't imagine those A-listers are feeling so much pain that they have to jack the prices that high. Of course, the ticket agencies, venues, local governments, etc. do their own gouging, so it's not all on the artists. Fortunately, there is still affordable live music by lesser known artists out there, but the A-listers and even B-listers appear to be out of reach for a lot of folks, which is a sad thing.
 
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Glad you had an awesome experience Bo! I just saw them a week ago in Chicago and lapped up every ounce of 70's fusion they were dishing up.

And yes, Gary Husband is amazing. I ended up sitting right next to him but was also able to lean into the empty chair next to me to get a clear shot of Billy (who will be 71 next month, BTW). When I was a kid, I listened to Spectrum over and over so it was a dream to be sitting there hearing tunes from that album (and others of the same era/genre) in-person.

I ended up having to go alone so it's nice to sort of celebrate the experience with you (and 8 Mile) on here. Hope you're as inspired as I still am, even after a week!

Jason



P.S. Re: ticket prices, I paid a stupid-cheap $40 for mine and thought the same thing. I'd have happily paid much more for this experience.
 
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Glad you had an awesome experience Bo! I just saw them a week ago in Chicago and lapped up every ounce of 70's fusion they were dishing up.

And yes, Gary Husband is amazing. I ended up sitting right next to him but was also able to lean into the empty chair next to me to get a clear shot of Billy (who will be 71 next month, BTW). When I was a kid, I listened to Spectrum over and over so it was a dream to be sitting there hearing tunes from that album (and others of the same era/genre) in-person.

I ended up having to go alone so it's nice to sort of celebrate the experience with you (and 8 Mile) on here. Hope you're as inspired as I still am, even after a week!

Jason



P.S. Re: ticket prices, I paid a stupid-cheap $40 for mine and thought the same thing. I'd have happily paid much more for this experience.

Yeah, Stan at ProDrum told me Billy is now 70. Incredible. I hope I can still play when I get up there. He obviously looked a little more frail than what I remember from the ads in the 70s and 80s, but the music was good. Gary Husband is a total inspiration. I am planning on putting my new electric grand piano to use by breaking out the intermediate Mozart and Bach books again (this is where I left off after getting out of college). Piano knowledge definitely doesn't hurt!
 
Billy is great, "number one" influence in the early 70´s drum comunity, and still going strong at over seventy years old!!!

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stumbled upon this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TaaCkjoITQ

Billy Cobham's Spectrum (Kongsberg, 1974) (c) NRK

Billy COBHAM (dr), John ABERCROMBIE (git), Michael BRECKER (s), Randy BRECKER (t), Glenn
FERRIS (trb), Alex BLAKE (b), Milchu LEVIEV (kbd).

"The pleasant Pheasant" "Red Baron" (B. Cobham).

Kongsberg Jazzfestival, Norway, 1974. From the NRK (c)

Just watched this last night. Legendary players in that band and really cool to see Billy's very physical brand of musical expression at a time when he was "it" in the realm of fusion. As a kid, I remember listening to "Spectrum" on cassette tape, over and over. I saw him with his Spectrum 40 band a couple of years ago (sat about 8 feet away from him on the side of the stage) and he's still got it!
 
Just watched this last night. Legendary players in that band and really cool to see Billy's very physical brand of musical expression at a time when he was "it" in the realm of fusion. As a kid, I remember listening to "Spectrum" on cassette tape, over and over. I saw him with his Spectrum 40 band a couple of years ago (sat about 8 feet away from him on the side of the stage) and he's still got it!
Billy was the first non-rock drummer I really checked out, courtesy of a good friend who turned me on to playing drums as a teen. I had Billy's "Best Of" record, which I also wore out and often slowed down with my thumb (not a great idea) to figure out what the hell he was doing. Stratus (off Spectrum) and Pleasant Pheasant were my favorites.

I also saw Billy on the Spectrum 40 tour at Music Hall in Detroit. Were you there, too, spleen? Incredible show, amazing energy, and all this despite the fact Billy was feeling very much under the weather. I got an autographed CD and also made an awkward attempt to chat with Gary Husband (who played keys) about Drummerworld. Gary is such a cool, gracious cat that I didn't even feel too bad about how clumsy I was about it.
 
Billy was the first non Neil Peart drummer I checked out after a friend turned me on to Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 90's. Check out this drummer....why I thought, he's not Neil Peart, Neil Peart is the best...ah to be young and all knowing again.
 
I had the good fortune the other night to catch a performance of the Billy Cobham Crosswinds Project, in eastern, Pennsylvania. The reworking of the classic 1974 release, sounded wonderful in the year of 2018, as well as inside the décor of the vintage & historical theatre that [they] played in. Great show from the legend and his supporting musicians. As for the sound & tone of Billy's TAMA drums & SABIAN cymbals, oh they sounded so good! It is nice and refreshing every once in a while when seeing live events, that such sound is obtainable. What a treat! Some photos from the event can be seen here -

https://longtrailahead.blogspot.com.../2018/04/billy-cobham-crosswinds-project.html
 
Not too far from me, missed it. I gotta get my feelers out there more, would've loved to have seen Billy! Sounds like it was worth it and a good show.
 
Not too far from me, missed it. I gotta get my feelers out there more, would've loved to have seen Billy! Sounds like it was worth it and a good show.

Yeah, how about it huh? I was lucky that I caught it. I'm telling you J-Boogie, twice, in as many months, two of TAMA's biggest names have been in the local area, and NOT one word or mention from them on their official webpage or social networking sites. Though there were but a couple empty seats in the house, perhaps a mention or two from the brand could've perhaps filled those vacant spots for sure.
 
Thats excellent you caught them Percussionplayer, keep us posted when you find these gems, Ill do the same. Funny, the best performance Ive seen live I caught on a whim, playing at a local college near me. Was absolutely amazing and I almost missed it. It was Dafnis Prieto at Goucher College!! I love that man, he's wonderful. Would love to see him again. Im in Baltimore, MD.
 
I first heard of Billy through Mahavishnu Orchestra, then picked up Dreams album and loved it. Very underrated music.
 
U know, Ive heard of them but dont think Ive ever listened to Dreams, I must fix this. Thanks guys!

The earliest BC Ive heard I believe is the Jack Johnson Miles stuff. BC playing grooves, not exploding and rolling everywhere.
 
I don't know for exactly how long now, but I can't seem to get the infectious groove of the song "Mirage" out of my head. It is so bad that, my wife was commenting that I keep repeating aloud over-and-over the same few bars from the opening of the song, and tapping it on whatever available surface suitable that I find myself around. No matter what I listen too, I just can't shake this track -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLrhZUjWjpc
 
He plays on the Horace Silver "Serenade To A Soul Sister" album, I believe one of his first major recordings. Pretty straight ahead for what he became known for but still good stuff.

I've always loved Billy's drumming on the Stanley Turrentine/Milt Jackson album Cherry, especially the track Sister Sanctified, with its drum break that was an early hip-hop sample.
 
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