by Erinn Fortson
I can hear the typical sounds associated with a train station when I reach Billy Cobham through phone. He is traveling to Philadelphia from New York and is waiting to depart. For the past 25 years, Cobham has lived outside of the country, splitting his residency between Switzerland and Panama. He is in the states in preparation of his upcoming tour and to also visit his American roots. “It’s always good to be back in the U.S.A.,” says Cobham. “Physically, I’m not here, but mentally, I always am. There’s just so many ties here”.
It’s been 40 years since Billy Cobham released his album, Spectrum. In 1973, a young musician went into a studio without a plan, but with a passion to simply make music. The only thing meticulous about his playing was his desire to explore music’s many realms. This resulted in the stimulating genius of a record that is still regarded as an essential and influential piece in the genre of jazz. “Spectrum was an absolute fluke,” Cobham tells me when I speak to him on a Thursday in December. “I was learning as I was making the album and my mistakes were my best teachers. If I would have had more education in terms of how to do things, I possibly wouldn’t have had a hit record. I didn’t even know I had a hit record for six months.” Chance and spontaneity certainly seemed to have work for Cobham.
Last fall, Billy Cobham announced a series of live performances that would be taking place in order to celebrate the creation of his breakthrough album. The Spectrum 40 Tour is the appropriately titled name of the on-road production and has recently begun with Cobham’s first performance taking place in New York City last week. The musician will be sharing the innovative sounds of his works with audiences nationwide. This Thursday, Cobham will be playing locally, at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.
From years spent with the Mahavishnu Ochestra, to his first performance at age eight, Billy Cobham has had an exhilarating career that continues to expand. He has worn many hats in the field of music as a drummer, composer, producer, and also educator, which is a role Cobham plays in one of his newest projects. Through Artist Works and Video Exchange, an online learning system specifically for music, Cobham has started the virtual Jazz & Fusion Drum School. Through this platform, students are able to receive tutelage from Cobham through computer video. Basic, intermediate, and advanced drummer pupils can develop their own playing skills by working closely with Cobham online. Billy’s current students are more on a professional level, as he typical doesn’t teach adolescents or persons without any music performance. “Of course!” is the response I receive when I ask Cobham if he enjoyed teaching.
Before he was a teacher, Cobham was a student. His father played a very active role in his music learning experience, as he was also a musician. Cobham’s adult career also led him to other important and influential peers that he worked with and studied music through. “Miles Davis was one, John Coltrane was another”, says Cobham. “There were many people who were highly inspiring to me. I had a lot of teachers to observe. I learned a lot, I tried a lot of things that I thought I saw them do and made my mistakes trying to emulate them. But out of that came a positive thing because I learned what I couldn’t do in the process as well, which is very, very fortunate”.
Music is such a vast art with so many changing elements waiting to be discovered. It struck a chord early on with Billy Cobham and has since taken him on an incredible journey that is far from over. He has not lost the enthusiasm or the drive to explore, examine, and create music. That’s what makes Cobham such a skilled musician. He has always somewhat known that this is where he wanted to be and what he wanted to be doing. And when I ask him if he came to this conclusion soon after music entered his life, he simply says, “In one word, yes.”
