Billy Cobham
Actor
- Born
- May 16, 1944 (age 82) · Colón, Panama
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. According to AllMusic, Cobham is generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer.
He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013. 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."
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Cobham's influence stretched far beyond jazz, including on progressive rock contemporaries like Bill Bruford of King Crimson and Danny Carey of Tool. Prince played a version of Cobham's Stratus in concert. Phil Collins, who named 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."
Known for
Acting14
- 2024Phil Collins: Drummer First as Self
- 2014Billy Cobham: Spectrum 40 - Live at Lotos Jazz Festival as Self - drums
- 2011Billy Cobham - Live At Nancy Jazz Pulsation 2011 as Self - drums
- 2010John McLaughlin & Billy Cobham: Live at Montreux 2010 as Self - drums
- 2008Quincy Jones : 75th Birthday Celebration Live at Montreux as Self
- 2006Jazz Legends: Billy Cobham Live At The Palais Des Festivals Hall Cannes 1989 as Self
- 2005Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie: Live in Riazzino, Switzerland as Self
- 2005Common Ground Inspiration Drum DVD as Self
- 2005Billy Cobham's: New Morning The Paris Concert
