More than 50 years ago he changed drumming. All the greatest drummers site him as a reference. To still be making jaws drop in his 70s..truly one of the best of all time.
What impresses me with Jazz-Rock musicians and their incredible technique is to imagine that in their brains they think even faster than what they play. It is a demonstration of human intelligence in addition to offering highly exciting music.
Now thats finesse and dynamics that only true masters of the craft can achieve. His rhythmic language is wonderfull. A great drum solo tells a story and this one is a 500 page novel.
@@sterben728 very few, but god bless those souls and ones like mine, ones that have glimpsed greatness but do not dare attempt to say understanding is even close
Billy is that magic balance between power and relaxation. I remember hearing him for the first time playing on Miles's Jack Johnson LP, then Mahavishnu. I saw him at a clinic in Tucson, too. Amazing man and a fantastic musician.
I did learn from Billy when he said " I hold the drumsticks as relaxed as possible. " my friends this is the paradoxical key to good technique. not only velocity , but the note you produce on the drum. goes the same for hand drumming. in fact i have found the exact same practice - i call it " yoga for the hands " - is the same for hands on congas, djembes, tablas, sticks on the kit etc etc. the practice is ten minutes a day - more makes no difference - it is the nervous system that is changing, not the muscles. that is why a five year old can have better technique than i have achieved after 8 years of practice. they do not have to retrain their nervous system controlling the hands. basically what i say about this i learned from watching videos of Giovanni - the great conga player.
l went to the Stanford Jazz Workshop 93 on a scholarship from MAPEX Billy was one of the instructora. 5 days of joy He inspired Dennis, Simon, Alphonze And some of today's drum heroes Eric Moore, Tony Royster, Sonny Emory ( to name a few). Living Legend. Thank you sir
People often times reference current drummers as the best or even just well known drummers. How many people would ever concur up this man's name? Billy should be on every single list of best drummers, probably topping many of the lists!!
Jared's face @2:20 pretty much says it all, man cannot take his eyes off him or keep his jaw from smacking the floor, I only recently got back into drumming and only even more recently discovered Billy Cobham... I have so much to learn and it's people like this that fuel my passion!
saw him and his band in Halle(Saale),in Germany, a good many years ago where just by chance he and his band were playing the Opern Haus.Needless to say a fantastic evening provided by a drumming genius.
He's been known as an incredible thinker too. I certainly wouldn't think to take a drum key and tune a single drum - but it COMPLETELY changed how he approached the kit! It's as if it HELPED him change his vocabulary. This is NUTS.
He helped shape l these new incredible drummers Weckl Emory etc. He's one of the early pioneers of the 70's who influenced the progressive style drumming and he deserves his respect ❤ the great Bill C 🥁
When I think about Billy Cobham, the first word that comes to mind is dynamics. That was one of the things that blew me away about his playing when I first heard him play. It's amazing the amount of dynamic control he has even when playing fast lines.
anyone who ignores dynamics in playing is an amateur. also tone. bombastic speed aside, professional drummers are " on-time " and every touch of the kit is consciously modulated to produce a compatible note with the music. real musicians hire real musicians as drummers. remember, if you do not get paid you are an amateur. better learn ... I would also say a professional plays what the leader wants and communicates with him. who is the leader ? the guy who pays.
I got to see Billy Cobham live when he was in his early thirties. He was the fastest and most powerful drummer that I had ever seen using the drumming equipment that was available back then.
the best starts around 6:30 or so - for me. perhaps he has warmed up live on the kit. the control it takes with the hands and sticks - well every drummer knows your hands have to warm up. I will add that most of the comments here - praising Billy - are all the people that Billy wants around him. it takes one to know one. god bless.
Usually, Jared interviews drummers who guest on the channel. Students will notice that Jared didn't interview Billy... he just let Billy play. No words needed.
Thanks to Sky Arts "The Art of the Drummer" I got to see this video. This is what a lifetime of practising drums can do for you! You can see he is totally "tranced out" or "in the zone" if you like.
One of the best drummers of our time. I like Neil Peart a lot and others, but Billy his technic is crzy, very very high level, watched him when he was " younger"..wowww my goodness! And i'm a drummer too, i could never understand and knowing i could never be that high level of a drummer. Hours i spend listening pfffff and the more i listen the more i'm sure...This man is my hero in playing drums.
I love how Jared is just like "duh" over there. I would be too. I remember stumbling onto my parents' old LP of Total Eclipse and being just completely blown away. The guy is a living legend.
No he just turned the key for a different sound probaby untuning it. but little naive white boys believe this guy is God (and every other black "pro") that you think he did something amazing.. Try to do it yourself ,trust me its real easy.. Go ahead try it..
lol relax bro. its not THAT serious. I just found it comical and quite dope, that in a midst of a solo he tuned up his tom. Its not something you see. Not sure how that made you so butt hurt but okay bro.
I had the privilege of picking Billy Cobham up from Cleveland's Hopkins airport and take them to a drum clinic sponsored by Midway music he was such a gentleman we went to dinner and he asked me if I gave lessons and to this day I still don't know if he was kidding or not Rock on Billy
I am 57 years old there are drummers and then you got Billy but whoever loves percussions check out a guy that used to play with the Jazz Crusaders name Stix Hooper St Louis in the house said that
check out the live version of Mahavishnu's The Noonward Race from the Mar Y Sol festival. Billy's drumming is absolutely impossible. Back then he was untouchable!
I respectfully disagree. When two bass drums are tuned identically they can both ring out independently. Sometimes the second strike on a double pedal partially muffles the tone of the first strike.
You could just listen to the audio and tell someone it was a 23 year old drummer and they'd both believe you and think it's an incredible solo let alone someone in their 70s
It's easy to forget he is 73 years old ! There are some great names out there and Billy Cobham is one of them.
less furocious, but more tasteful deliver
Carl Palmer cough cough
@@cliffie024 wish drumeo call him and make a video with him and he bring his stainless kit from ludwig.....
Definitely one of the best indeed
@@cliffie024yes. Carl Palmer is unbelievable and plays a much more complicated set
More than 50 years ago he changed drumming. All the greatest drummers site him as a reference. To still be making jaws drop in his 70s..truly one of the best of all time.
There are drummers, and then there is Billy Cobham. Legend!
Billy Cobham is "Da Man" folks. Been listening since the seventies. He plays better with eyes closed than most with eyes open.
What impresses me with Jazz-Rock musicians and their incredible technique is to imagine that in their brains they think even faster than what they play. It is a demonstration of human intelligence in addition to offering highly exciting music.
Now thats finesse and dynamics that only true masters of the craft can achieve. His rhythmic language is wonderfull. A great drum solo tells a story and this one is a 500 page novel.
I find he is frequently absent from lists of great drummers but he is one of the best and most influential drummers ever in my opinion.
I totally agree!!
There’s so much more going on here that most people can’t even understand. This guy is amazing!!!
Trust me people do understand 😎
I’m glad you commented. I haven’t watched this in a while.
You should us explain to understand..... No beginning no middle no end....
@@sterben728 very few, but god bless those souls and ones like mine, ones that have glimpsed greatness but do not dare attempt to say understanding is even close
If you liked Billy here, *PLEASE* check out Mahavishnu Orchestra. They were one of the best things to happen to progressive rock music!
Yeah Back in the 70s
I have an album by them, I shall have to dig it out.
Billy is that magic balance between power and relaxation. I remember hearing him for the first time playing on Miles's Jack Johnson LP, then Mahavishnu. I saw him at a clinic in Tucson, too. Amazing man and a fantastic musician.
I did learn from Billy when he said " I hold the drumsticks as relaxed as possible. " my friends this is the paradoxical key to good technique. not only velocity , but the note you produce on the drum. goes the same for hand drumming. in fact i have found the exact same practice - i call it " yoga for the hands " - is the same for hands on congas, djembes, tablas, sticks on the kit etc etc. the practice is ten minutes a day - more makes no difference - it is the nervous system that is changing, not the muscles. that is why a five year old can have better technique than i have achieved after 8 years of practice. they do not have to retrain their nervous system controlling the hands. basically what i say about this i learned from watching videos of Giovanni - the great conga player.
l went to the Stanford Jazz Workshop 93 on a scholarship from MAPEX Billy was one of the instructora. 5 days of joy
He inspired Dennis, Simon, Alphonze
And some of today's drum heroes
Eric Moore, Tony Royster, Sonny
Emory ( to name a few). Living
Legend. Thank you sir
Love this guy, taught me about open hand playing and hand speed. The best! Thank you Billy!
People often times reference current drummers as the best or even just well known drummers. How many people would ever concur up this man's name? Billy should be on every single list of best drummers, probably topping many of the lists!!
BEST DRUMMER I HAVVE SEEN HIM
After all these years, you can see and hear that Sir Bilham Cobly still LOVES to just PLAY. :-)
Billy Cobham.
Jared's face @2:20 pretty much says it all, man cannot take his eyes off him or keep his jaw from smacking the floor, I only recently got back into drumming and only even more recently discovered Billy Cobham... I have so much to learn and it's people like this that fuel my passion!
HOLY CRAP! the drumming is amazing and so is the production... such a wonderful experience
the overhead views were excellent
saw him and his band in Halle(Saale),in Germany, a good many years ago where just by chance he and his band were playing the Opern Haus.Needless to say a fantastic evening provided by a drumming genius.
For me, Billy is the greatest drummer of all time. Absolute genius
He is on his 70' s and playing like magic
Like the album :) ?
This was a mess, some great technical moves for sure but musically not great
Saw this guy play at Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Stunning
Heard his cassette drum tutorial way back in the 90s, still sounding great. Legend.
Me too. Born in 77 with a pot- smoking guitar player dad. I played for 30 years and I'm still in love with Billy even though I don't play any more.
Those drums man....Those drums.....what a sound.
TAMA Star classic
Toms sound amazing
He's been known as an incredible thinker too. I certainly wouldn't think to take a drum key and tune a single drum - but it COMPLETELY changed how he approached the kit! It's as if it HELPED him change his vocabulary. This is NUTS.
Billy Cobham is definitely in top 5 for greatest drummers of all time!
Qui sont les quatres autre?
@@Trower22 Terry Bozzio for sure. I would put Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland there. And no lie, Karen Carpenter.
@@uiscepreston you are puttin the one s you like not the best ones and most infliential...., hey!, i like the one you named too!
1 - Buddy Rich
2 - Cobham
3 - Neil Peart
4 - Bonham
5 - Donati
Love Art Blakekey
He helped shape l these new incredible drummers Weckl Emory etc. He's one of the early pioneers of the 70's who influenced the progressive style drumming and he deserves his respect ❤ the great Bill C 🥁
Nobody play the snare like cobham. He is the man.
When I think about Billy Cobham, the first word that comes to mind is dynamics. That was one of the things that blew me away about his playing when I first heard him play.
It's amazing the amount of dynamic control he has even when playing fast lines.
anyone who ignores dynamics in playing is an amateur. also tone. bombastic speed aside, professional drummers are " on-time " and every touch of the kit is consciously modulated to produce a compatible note with the music. real musicians hire real musicians as drummers. remember, if you do not get paid you are an amateur. better learn ... I would also say a professional plays what the leader wants and communicates with him. who is the leader ? the guy who pays.
I could watch this all day... mad chops.
I got to see Billy Cobham live when he was in his early thirties. He was the fastest and most powerful drummer that I had ever seen using the drumming equipment that was available back then.
his approch in drumming is so quiet.. nice nice nice..
that china is awesome
that little tom sounded like my snare when it's off ahah what a beauty
I seen him do a drum clinic in the 80s, amazing!
I remember Billy playing solo on snowy winter nights at Shaboo.
Ahhhhhh, times gone by...
the best starts around 6:30 or so - for me. perhaps he has warmed up live on the kit. the control it takes with the hands and sticks - well every drummer knows your hands have to warm up. I will add that most of the comments here - praising Billy - are all the people that Billy wants around him. it takes one to know one. god bless.
When I saw him in the '70s he had a drum set with bottoms that curved towards the front and flared out like horn bells.
Those were the short-lived "Staccato" brand drums. Hard as eff to find cases to put the drums in!
North Drums
Back in 1998 I got to see a Billy Cobham Clinic at Music Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I was like 14 Back then. It was super Cool. Great 🥁 Drummer.
Saw him at Exit/In Nashville late 70’s. Phenomenal performance! At one point he was moving so fast his sticks looked like hummingbird wings.
Usually, Jared interviews drummers who guest on the channel. Students will notice that Jared didn't interview Billy... he just let Billy play. No words needed.
That was the interview 😄
Thanks to Sky Arts "The Art of the Drummer" I got to see this video. This is what a lifetime of practising drums can do for you! You can see he is totally "tranced out" or "in the zone" if you like.
One of the best drummers of our time. I like Neil Peart a lot and others, but Billy his technic is crzy, very very high level, watched him when he was " younger"..wowww my goodness! And i'm a drummer too, i could never understand and knowing i could never be that high level of a drummer. Hours i spend listening pfffff and the more i listen the more i'm sure...This man is my hero in playing drums.
so good! classic drummer showing his talent hasn't faded. sweet!
I love how Jared is just like "duh" over there. I would be too. I remember stumbling onto my parents' old LP of Total Eclipse and being just completely blown away. The guy is a living legend.
What a great album total eclipse !
A lot of great albums.
In solo, the thing at least from Spectrum to Magic is unbelievable.
The low end on those toms and bass drum sound amazing
To appear on this channel is the happiest event today!
1:50 did this man just tune up his tom mid solo? lol
No he just turned the key for a different sound probaby untuning it. but little naive white boys believe this guy is God (and every other black "pro") that you think he did something amazing.. Try to do it yourself ,trust me its real easy.. Go ahead try it..
snazzysnooker why so racist
Fam, are you blind and deaf??? you can see and hear the tom is getting tune up, jesus christ man........
lol relax bro. its not THAT serious.
I just found it comical and quite dope, that in a midst of a solo he tuned up his tom. Its not something you see.
Not sure how that made you so butt hurt but okay bro.
You sound like a dumb ass and I bet you look like one too.
Always a Billy fan!
The greatest of all time.
The best drummer I have ever heard.
the tune-up mid solo was so goated
Billy's cool enuff to tune up in mid-stroke...feel the thunder of those Tama B/B floor toms !
I remember you when.....Port Chester, my town --hanging out at the Capital Theatre! Good Memories!
Best drummer this side of the MIlky Way
Un tueur.. En action..merci Billy Cobham.
Those toms sound amazing.
Najlepszy PERKUSISTA WSZECHCZASÓW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had the privilege of picking Billy Cobham up from Cleveland's Hopkins airport and take them to a drum clinic sponsored by Midway music he was such a gentleman we went to dinner and he asked me if I gave lessons and to this day I still don't know if he was kidding or not Rock on Billy
so simple and technical
less noise
WOW.
a true pro in the craft of the drums💜💜💜
A master at work.
Can't call many cats legends but this dude is definitely one of them. A real innovator.
Happy Birthday, Billy Cobham!
I feel like Cobham is the Samuel Jackson of drumming! He s likable, he s one of the best in his job and he has tons of experience!
And he's black like Samuel!
Except Cobham is cool and Jackson sucks.
@@j.t.cooper2963 says you
@@QuickestQuickChop Yep, I said it.
@@j.t.cooper2963 just because you don't like him doesn't mean he's a bad actor
Drum solos cannot be copywrited. Each one is a moment of rhythm in time.
Seeing him in October 2022! Can't wait!
I still have Powrplay on vinyl. Love that album
Fact: if billy plays without that headband he cannot neither wax on nor wax off
My favourite drummer, big time!
He tunes his Tom-Tom in the middle of the solo and doesn’t drop a beat. Dang son. Just dang.
dude is 73 years old and looks younger than me, I'm 20...
Sompn Brurl
That's a "Black thing" :-)
@@63Baggies Accurate. 🤣
Все барабанщики мира играют как могут а Билли играет как хочет что хочет просто монстр фантастика это лучший барабанщик всех народов и времен
The amazing lefthanded drummer.
love those floor toms
thanks Billy for making me a better drummer, I'll never be as good as you and that's ok
Good video guys really love you guys keep on grinding
One of the major influencers of several drummers including Phil Collins
Amazing quadridextrous genius!!
The only one ...Billy Cobham !!!
Underrated
One of the best!!!!!
Mean mean talent ! legend BC.
Hey Drumeo, can you get Chris Coleman to do a lesson, please and thank you.
We'd LOVE to do a lesson with Chris.
my all time favorite drummer besides Tony Williams
Great vid guys
I can’t help but feel he is speaking a language. There’s a grammer and a syntax to his musical speaking, or singing rather. I can almost hear a story.
Orgullo panameño ❤️
One of the best
Such an incredible drummer. I can hear the influence he's had on Danny Carey's playing.
I am 57 years old there are drummers and then you got Billy but whoever loves percussions check out a guy that used to play with the Jazz Crusaders name Stix Hooper St Louis in the house said that
check out the live version of Mahavishnu's The Noonward Race from the Mar Y Sol festival. Billy's drumming is absolutely impossible. Back then he was untouchable!
That hihat rod is gonna make a hole in the roof
Bravo!
Tuned thunder!!
having two differently pitched bass drums is the only reason to ever use two. it just makes sense.
Or to play double bass for metal, rock, etc...
@@gerodshaffer3046 that's what double bass pedals are for
I respectfully disagree. When two bass drums are tuned identically they can both ring out independently. Sometimes the second strike on a double pedal partially muffles the tone of the first strike.
@@mattekudasai8249 ur username and pfp makes me come. Tony Levin is truly one of the best bassists of all time, and Discipline is truly a masterpiece
@@yunarukami14 as it should
Fantastic Drumming
toujours le meilleur !!!!
THIS IS GREAT ...
1:41 hit mic xD
sounds like a wood block kinda
His doubles are so consistent
You could just listen to the audio and tell someone it was a 23 year old drummer and they'd both believe you and think it's an incredible solo let alone someone in their 70s