Overview: With COBHAM: The Music and Drumming of Billy Cobham, the work and life of this drumming colossus is explored and analyzed.

Written with Cobham’s direct involvement and culled from dozens of hours of interviews with him, the book presents a biography of his early years and the development of his career, and then documents select important recordings and projects from 1968 up to the present day.

Verdict: For those not fully aware, here within these glorious pages of the dutifully constructed COBHAM: The Music and Drumming of Billy Cobham, the principle leader Billy Cobham gives his views on the industry, writing music, leading a band, recording, education/clinics, and other topics.

Presented in a coffee-table style full-color layout, an extensive collection of photos (many culled from Cobham’s personal archives) documents Billy’s history — including his contributions to the innovative setup of the instrument itself: left-hand-lead/ambidextrous playing, double bass drums, the contemporary large kit with instrument innovations such as the gong drum, and an endlessly creative approach to playing the drums in ways that continue to defy convention.

And a lot of what we are lovingly presented is simply informatively fabulous to add to what we, as drum followers, already knew. Known as one of the world’s most prolific jazz drummers, Billy was born William C. Cobham on May 16th, 1944, in Panama, where he developed a fascination with the percussion instruments his cousins played when he was a very young child.

Known today as being a jazz fusion maestro, widely recognized, and esteemed for his creative drumming/musical brilliance, over the decades he has significantly contributed as a master drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, educator, clinician, and tireless musical adventurer.

And yet, when asked the question of whether or not he had ever had any kind of formal training on the drums growing up, his answer is astounding: Very little. I went to the Music and Art High School in New York City but they didn’t have a percussion instructor there. They looked down on percussionists. I studied with Morris Goldenberg, who passed on in 1966. I also studied with Warren Smith who was a student teacher in our high school while studying at the Manhattan School of Music. But no other formal training."

Regardless, Billy has played the drums on some of the genre’s seminal early records, including ground-breaking works by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, before he was a successful musician in his own right.

He has also used his incredible skill to create booming, high-octane mashes of jazz sophistication and rock & roll ferocity when playing at his best. He could play understated, funkier grooves and astonishing solo improvisations, and luckily for us all, we got to hear a lot of that phenomenal skill on his recordings.

COBHAM: The Music and Drumming of Billy Cobham chronicles the work and life of this drumming titan is explored and analyzed. Written with Cobham’s direct involvement and culled from dozens of hours of interviews with him, the book gives us his views on the industry, writing music, leading a band, recording, education/clinics, and other engrossing topics.

Also included are exclusive interviews with John McLaughlin, Ron Carter, Randy Brecker, and contributions from Wayne Cobham (Bill’s brother and collaborator) and Ken Hoshino (Tama drums). Contemporary legends who count Cobham among their main influences also contribute their views on Billy’s importance: Will Calhoun, Dennis Chambers, Gary Husband, Simon Phillips, John Riley, Steve Smith, and Narada Michael Walden. Rounded out by a complete discography and a collection of industry advertisements over the years, the book can be used as a musical analysis, biography, or an entertaining look at photos and history of the legendary music career of Billy Cobham.

In short, and both via this book and his world-renowned persona, we learn and embrace the fact that Billy Cobham is a highly skilled soloist whose explosive force and rhythmic precision set the standard for fusion drummers. He also continues to innovate and provide service to the world through his music with the same vigor and enthusiasm he had in his youth.

About the Author - Joe Bergamini is a drummer from New Jersey in the United States. He is the co-founder of the instrumental progressive rock band 4Front. 4Front’s other founder, guitarist/songwriter Zak Rizvi, went on to become a member of the classic rock group Kansas in 2016.

The latest in a series from author Joe Bergamini, who has written best-selling musical biographies of Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, and Steve Gadd, COBHAM: The Music and Drumming of Billy Cobham is a must for the bookshelf of all drummers and fans of jazz and fusion.

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