Panama-born, New York-raised musician Cobham rose to fame in the 1970s, but has been performing on stage since childhood.
He earned his first royalties at the age of eight, for a concert with his father's pianist group. Having graduated from a music school in New York, the boy's service in the army did not prevent him from developing his talent - he played percussion instruments in the army orchestra for three years.
After hanging up his uniform on a nail in 1968, B. Cobham quickly entered the musical life of the United States - he joined pianist Horace Silver's group, played with guitarist George Benson and saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.
In 1969, Billy formed the band Dreams, which also featured the later famous brothers Michael and Randy Brecker and guitarist John Abercrombie. Just a year passed, and the virtuoso playing of the drummer attracted the attention of the jazz legend Miles Davis. Joining his band, Billy recorded four albums, including Bitches Brew, considered the work that inspired the entire jazz rock genre.
This wasn't the only band that changed the course of jazz in which this drummer played. In 1971, he formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra with guitarist John McLaughlin, which is considered one of the most influential fusion groups of all time.
Billy Cobham soon began his solo career with the hugely successful Spectrum album released in 1973, which has since been accompanied by more and more diverse and interesting projects for the musician.
Billy Cobham's band performing in 1974:
The musician's creative biography is extremely colorful. He toured with guitarists John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana, performed as a member of the New York Jazz Quartet, joined a band formed by blues guitarist Hack Bruce in the 1980s, collaborated with guitarist John Scofield, drummer Tony Williams, and performed with bassist Stanley Clarke.
He also recorded jazz versions of Grateful Dead songs and collaborated with rock legend Peter Gabriel.
B. Cobham won recognition not only as a musician and creator, but also in the role of an educator - his master classes always attract great interest, thousands of young drummers around the world learn from B. Cobham's advice in books.
The importance of the musician in today's culture was evidenced by the 2007 documentary film "Sonic Mirror" about him, which was shown at film and music festivals in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.
Today, Billy Cobham's discography includes dozens of albums, numerous joint projects with stars of various genres. The 78-year-old musician continues to experiment with the sounds of ethnic music from different countries and creates an unpredictable sound performance that inspires many other drummers.
Even if it sounds unexpected, Billy Cobham is cited as one of their main sources of inspiration by drummers from many famous alternative, heavy rock or even metal bands - such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Opeth or Dream Theater.
