Check out my Q. & A. with drum master Billy Cobham and see him live Friday at the Palladium

Billy Cobham has been in the top rank of jazz drummers – in fact all drummers – since his breakthrough in the early 1970s as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. As a drummer/leader on recordings like Spectrum, his powerful, complex style of play exerted a strong influence on the course of jazz and jazz-fusion.

 

Panamanian by birth, a New Yorker by upbringing, and a resident of Switzerland for more than 25 years, Cobham remains a master drummer and percussionist but also a composer, producer, educator, and clinician. During his time in St. Pete, Cobham will be working with SPC and high school music students in advance of his public concert.

 

I spoke with this tireless musical explorer recently and here’s the result:

 

PalladiumPaul – How do you describe the sound of the band on this tour?

 

Cobham – 1970’s Fusion.

 

PalladiumPaul – Who will be playing with you at the Palladium show?

 

Cobham – Dean Brown is the senior player in the band, having performed with me since 1983. Gary Husband started to work with me in 1995 and Ric Fierabracci began work with me in 2007. The whole idea was to collaborate with musicians from my past who I have always enjoyed performing with.

 

PalladiumPaul – Where they chosen with a specific sound in mind or to create a new sound?

 

Cobham – They were chosen to help me create a musical personality that came closest to replicating the original Spectrum band on record.

 

PalladiumPaul – What can we expect on the set list?

 

 Cobham – I will present the music from Spectrum and each member of the band will contribute at least one composition from his song book.

 

PalladiumPaul –  What new music has caught your ear lately?

 

Cobham – The music of Vince Mendoza (Palladium Paul note: Mendoza is a Grammy winning jazz conductor, arranger and composer. For more info visit http://vincemendoza.net/)

 

PalladiumPaul –  What inspires you to keep performing?

 

Cobham – The quality of life that I live with my wife, Faina.

 

Billy Cobham and Spectrum 40 appear this Friday, Sept. 20 at the Palladium. For tickets and information visit www.mypalladium.org or call 727 822-3590.