Billy Cobham Band supported by Empirical
Buying jazz tickets in London this month just got bigger with the return of jazz drummer Billy Cobham.
The legendary Billy Cobham, with his matchless, dazzling, ambidextrous skills as a drummer, has applied the same insistent fervor to his long list of monumental achievements. He’s an accomplished composer and record producer.
It is a rarely known fact that he was at the forefront of the electronic music industry and its development through Jazz. He was one of the first percussionists, along with Max Roach and Tony Williams to utilize the Electronic Drum Controller made in 1968 by the Meazzi Drum Company in Milano, Italy, while on concert tour with Horace Silver in Europe. He is one of the few Percussionists, specializing in the Jazz drum set to lead his own band. The award winning Cobham has custom designed trend setting acoustic and electronic drum sets and has endorsed products that he created and refined. Performing soon at Ronnie Scott’s, Cobham will enjoy speedy ticket sales and we recommend our guests book early to buy some of the best jazz tickets in London this year.
He has performed on hundreds of records with his own groups and with some of the music’s most luminary artists, and his trademark - biggest, fastest, explosive drumming - has energized the international stages of concerts, symphonies, big bands, Broadway, festivals, television and video. He has been a teacher of his artistry, giving drum clinics, conducting workshops and symposiums throughout the world. His stylistic influence, which has literally created a category of music, is an outstanding part of the history of modern music.
Since 1980 Billy Cobham has been dividing his time between his home in Zurich and the United States where he lived in New York City and northern California until that time, underscoring his unique internationally influenced origins as a musician. Born 5/16/44 in Panama, surrounded by talented parents and a brother, Wayne (producer, horn player, midi specialist, writer), Billy’s love for drums was kindled by his cousins who played and constructed steel drums and congas in Panama. Some of his earliest memories are of himself playing Timbales.
The Cobhams moved to New York City in 1947, when Billy was 3 years old. He had his stage debut in performance with his father at the age of 8. Cobham developed his seriously voracious appetite for drumming in the highly competitive Drum and Bugle Corps. arena with St. Catherine’s Queensmen, prompting him to attend New York’s famed High School of Music and Art to study music theory and drum technique with seminars by such renowned talents as Thelonious Monk and Stan Getz. Cobham remembers "In those days, Jazz was a bit off-limits to students while classical music was preferred by the education establishment. So, of course students craved to meet jazz artists.
Miles Davis was the most talked about personality of the time and had the best musicians working with him. "We’d listen to him and analyze, as we did with other professionals. But in those days, all roads did lead to Miles." He was the goal to shoot for because he had a knack for putting the right components together (musicians and music) to convey the ultimate message through Jazz.
Empirical
“This a fantastic debut that everyone needs to hear”Independent on Sunday
“Album of the Year”
Jazzwise
“Jazz Album of the Year”
Mojo
Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, 2007, EBU/European Jazz Competition 2007
Special Citation for Outstanding Musicianship, IAJE 2008
Jay Phelps (tr.), Nathaniel Facey (as.), Kit Downes (p.), Tom Farmer (b.), Shane Forbes (dr.)
When five young jazz musicians made the decision to set up a group last year, no one could have predicted that a little over twelve months later they would have won the inaugural EBU/European Jazz Competition at last year's North Sea Jazz Festival and the esteemed Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2007. They’ve received universal acclaim for their self-titled debut album released on Courtney Pine's Destin-e label, including the highly enthusiastic praise of Joshua Redman, who the band supported in a hugely successful, sold-out concert at the 2007 London Jazz Festival. There is little doubt the band has taken the jazz scene by storm with the "scalding neo-bop of their eponymous debut and the maturity of both their writing and playing." (Time Out)
Not content with this string of accolades, Empirical's debut album was awarded the prestigious title of Jazzwise magazine's Album Of The Year - reviewing the album in July, the magazine claimed that, "Empirical could turn out to be one of the most important bands in UK jazz history". Mojo also followed up their top-marks review by naming the record their Jazz Album of 2007, adding yet another achievement to the ever-growing list.
Empirical proudly root their music in jazz’s Western principles but also expertly incorporate elements from classical, African and Cuban musical forms. Standing apart from the current crop of young jazz-influenced groups currently making a name for themselves, Empirical’s sophisticated contemporary sound is acutely and respectfully aware of its origins while retaining a freshness and originality that continually pushes the music forward, exploring the possibilities of the tunes showcased on the album through their exceptional live performances. With Tom Farmer replacing Neil Charles for bass duties after the release of the album, the group also make a point of not centring themselves on a specific front line or leader – they are very much a complete band, each member equally contributing and adding their own facets to the overall sound.
The band will perform a number of UK dates in Spring 2008 and throughout the year – don’t miss your chance to catch the most exciting modern jazz band in the country showcase exactly why they are at the top of their game.