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.
Cobham was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987, the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013., and The Percussive Arts Society Hall Of Fame in 2006, a very rare honour. 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."
Cobham's influence stretched far beyond jazz; he influenced progressive rock contemporaries, including Bill Bruford of King Crimson, and later ones such as Danny Carey of Tool. Prince and Jeff Beck both played a version of Cobham's "Stratus" in concert. Phil Collins, who named the 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."
Born in Colón, Panama, Cobham moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, when he was three. His father, Manuel, worked as a hospital statistician during the week and played piano on weekends. Cobham started playing drums at the age of four, and joined his father four years later. When he was 15, he got his first drum kit as a gift after being accepted to The High School of Music & Art in New York City.
He was drafted in 1965, and played with a U.S. Army band for the next three years. After his discharge, he joined Horace Silver's quintet. He played an early model electric drum kit given to him by Tama Drums. He was a house drummer for Atlantic Records and a session musician for CTI and Kudu, appearing on the albums White Rabbit by George Benson, Sunflower by Milt Jackson, and Soul Box by Grover Washington Jr.
Cobham started the jazz rock group Dreams with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Barry Rogers, and John Abercrombie. He moved further into jazz fusion when he recorded with Miles Davis, appearing on Davis's albums A Tribute to Jack Johnson and Big Fun. In 1971, he and guitarist John McLaughlin started the Mahavishnu Orchestra, another group that fused rock, funk, and jazz. Cobham toured extensively from 1971 to 1973 with the first incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which released two studio albums, The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973), and one live album, Between Nothingness & Eternity (1973). The studio versions of songs on the live album were released on The Lost Trident Sessions (1999).
Cobham's debut album, Spectrum (1973), surprised him and his record company when it reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Jazz Albums chart and No. 26 on the Top 200 Albums chart. Cobham started experimenting with different drum equipment. In 1974, for Crosswinds he used a fiberglass-shell snare built for him by Al Duffy, and used Duffy's custom chain-drive bass drum pedal. Cobham's massive drum kit in the mid-1970s, based on a clear acrylic set by Fibes Drums, contained two Fibes bass drums, a custom Duffy snare, two flared-shell rack toms by North Drums, four Fibes rack toms, two Fibes floor toms, two gong drums by Duffy customized by Cobham's drum roadie Jeff Ocheltree, a hi-hat, five Zildjian cymbals, and one hanging 36-inch gong. This expansive kit and Cobham's dynamic style influenced later drummers.
In 1980, he worked with Jack Bruce in Jack Bruce & Friends. For this group, Cobham used a very large custom drum kit designed for him by Tama Drums, featuring three bass drums with linked pedals, and three snares including a piccolo snare and a Hinger Space Tone expanding snare. Cobham said this kit adapted to fit the music, and the music adapted to fit the kit – "a continual chicken–egg–chicken scenario." On October 30, 1980, he joined the Grateful Dead during the band's concert at Radio City Music Hall. He performed a long drum solo session with the band's two percussionists, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, also known as the Rhythm Devils. In 1981, Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie was formed with Michał Urbaniak on violin and EWI, Gil Goldstein on piano, Tim Landers on bass, and Mike Stern on guitar. Dean Brown replaced Stern when he left to play with Miles Davis. Glass Menagerie released two albums for Elektra Musician.
From 1980 to 1984, Cobham played in the band Bobby and the Midnites, a side project for Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, with Bobby Cochran and Kenny Gradney, and recorded the album Where the Beat Meets the Street.
Cobham moved to Switzerland in 1985.
In 1994, he joined an all-star cast Greek Theatre in Los Angeles; the results appeared on the album Stanley Clarke, Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson Live at the Greek. The concert was predominantly Clarke's music, but all the musicians contributed material.
In 2006, Cobham released Drum 'n' Voice 2, a return to the 1970s jazz-funk sound, with guests including Brian Auger, Guy Barker, Jeff Berlin, Frank Gambale, Jan Hammer, Mike Lindup, Buddy Miles, Dominic Miller, Airto Moreira, John Patitucci, and the band Novecento. The album was produced and arranged by Pino and Lino Nicolosi for Nicolosi Productions. In 2009, he released Drum'n' Voice 3. Guests included Alex Acuña, Brian Auger, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Bob Mintzer, Novecento, John Scofield, and Gino Vannelli.
Cobham plays his drums using the open-handed technique, which allows the player to play without crossing their right hand over the snare drum.
In December 2011, Cobham began teaching drums online at the Billy Cobham School of Drums, a school in the ArtistWorks Drum Academy.
Many musicians have cited Cobham as an influence, including Phil Collins, Tullio De Piscopo, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Arrington, Ranjit Barot, Danny Carey, Jimmy Chamberlin, Dennis Chambers, Brann Dailor, Matt Garstka, Chris Hornbrook, Thomas Lang, Mac McNeilly, OM, Opeth, Chris Pennie Mike Portnoy, Thomas Pridgen, Sivamani, Bill Stevenson, Jon Theodore, Tony Thompson, and Mike Clark. Other musicians have expressed admiration for his work, including Steven Wilson and Dave Bainbridge.
Cobham has cited big-band drummers, such as Buddy Rich, Jo Jones, Louie Bellson, Sam Woodyard, Sonny Payne, Mel Lewis, and Charlie Persip, as well as modern jazz drummers, such as Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Art Blakey, as influences on his playing.
With Stanley Turrentine and Milt Jackson
Where the Beat Meets the Street (1984)