William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987[1] and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.[2] AllMusic biographer Steve Huey said, "Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings – including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra – before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. At his best, Cobham harnessed his amazing dexterity into thundering, high-octane hybrids of jazz complexity and rock & roll aggression."[3]
Cobham's influence stretched far beyond jazz; he influenced progressive rock contemporaries like Bill Bruford of King Crimson, and later ones like Danny Carey of Tool. Prince and Jeff Beck both played a version of Cobham's "Stratus" in concert. Phil Collins, who named the Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame as a key influence on his early style, said: "Billy Cobham played some of the finest drumming I've ever heard on that record."
^"Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2017". Modern Drummer Magazine. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
^"The Classic Drummer Hall of Fame". The Classic Drummer Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
^Huey, Steve. "Billy Cobham". AllMusic. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
early style, said: "BillyCobham played some of the finest drumming I've ever heard on that record." Born in Colón, Panama, Cobham moved with his family...
The discography of jazz/jazz fusion drummer BillyCobham includes solo, collaborative, and work playing on other artists' albums. Spectrum (1973) Crosswinds...
Panamanian drummer BillyCobham, Irish bassist Rick Laird, Czech keyboardist Jan Hammer, and American violinist Jerry Goodman. Cobham and Goodman had played...
played on Mahavishnu Orchestra member BillyCobham's solo album Spectrum, which included Bolin on guitar, Cobham on drums, Leland Sklar on bass and Jan...
John McLaughlin's group The 4th Dimension. He is currently working with BillyCobham Spectrum 50 Band, regularly with Germany's Norddeutscher Rundfunk Big...
Ruth Underwood (born Ruth Komanoff; May 23, 1946) is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments...
influential jazz and rock musicians such as John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, BillyCobham, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Tommy Bolin...
older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer BillyCobham, keyboardist Jeff Kent and bassist Doug Lubahn. Dreams was short-lived...
charges were dropped in January 2023. Carey's drumming influences include BillyCobham, Buddy Rich, Bill Bruford, Lenny White, Neil Peart, Tony Williams, John...
with his grandparents in Bath to attend a university course by drummer BillyCobham. Dayes has one daughter. His mother died in 2015. Dayes formed the band...
persuading the band to continue with American guitarist Tommy Bolin (of BillyCobham and The James Gang fame). As Jon Lord put it, "David Coverdale came up...
guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer BillyCobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985...
studio album by BillyCobham. "Panhandler" (BillyCobham) – 3:50 "Sorcery" (Keith Jarrett) – 2:26 "A Funky Thide of Sings" (BillyCobham) – 3:23 "Thinking...
Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers BillyCobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with...
Honeydrippers, Simon and Garfunkel, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Carole King, BillyCobham, Mike Francis and Yoko Ono. He was also a member of Blood, Sweat & Tears...
Oytun Ersan Tal Wilkenfeld Gary Willis Victor Wooten Dennis Chambers BillyCobham Bill Bruford Chad Szeliga Jonathan Chua Vinnie Colaiuta Kirk Covington...
rock sound through his work with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Stanley Clarke, BillyCobham, Dixie Dregs, Happy the Man, and Jeff Beck. Scott was born in London...
regularly cites BillyCobham of The Mahavishnu Orchestra as his main drumming influence: "My all-time favorite drummer is BillyCobham. I love the way...
before joining Bobby and the Midnites with Bob Weir and jazz veterans BillyCobham and Alphonso Johnson. This led to an invitation to join the Dead in 1979...
performed and recorded with Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Donald Fagen, BillyCobham, Chris Potter, David Binney, and Carla Bley. Since the early 1990s, Krantz...
and Black Market (1976) before he left the band to work with drummer BillyCobham. During 1976-77 he recorded three solo albums as a band leader, for the...
The 1974 edition of the festival featured performances of 14 artists: BillyCobham Buddy Guy Cecil Taylor Dee Dee Bridgewater Earl Hines Flora Purim John...
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