Who hasn't he played with ?

Billy has played with many, many people

* 1 Discography
o 1.1 Solo albums
o 1.2 With Miles Davis
o 1.3 With Horace Silver
o 1.4 With George Benson
o 1.5 With Quincy Jones
o 1.6 With Dreams
o 1.7 With Kenny Burrell
o 1.8 With James Brown
o 1.9 With Sonny Rollins
o 1.10 With Ron Carter
o 1.11 With Mahavishnu Orchestra
o 1.12 With Milt Jackson
o 1.13 With Eumir Deodato
o 1.14 With John McLaughlin
o 1.15 With Santana/McLaughlin
o 1.16 With Carly Simon
o 1.17 With Gil Evans
o 1.18 With Brothers Johnson
o 1.19 With Mose Allison
o 1.20 With Les McCann
o 1.21 With Randy Weston
o 1.22 With Miroslav Vitous
o 1.23 With Gene Ammons
o 1.24 With Ray Barretto
o 1.25 With Stanley Clarke
o 1.26 With McCoy Tyner
o 1.27 With Don Sebesky
o 1.28 With Mark-Almond Band
o 1.29 With Johnny Hammond
o 1.30 With Grover Washington, Jr.
o 1.31 With Al Johnson
o 1.32 With Larry Coryell
o 1.33 With Arif Mardin
o 1.34 With Freddie Hubbard
o 1.35 With Cargo
o 1.36 With Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway
o 1.37 With Clarke/Duke Project
o 1.38 With Fania All Stars
o 1.39 With Stanley Clarke and Larry Carlton
o 1.40 With Jazz Is Dead
o 1.41 With Peter Gabriel
o 1.42 With Junior Mance

And Solo Albums

Solo albums

* Spectrum (1973)
* Crosswinds (1974)
* Total Eclipse (1974)
* Shabazz (1974)
* A Funky Thide of Sings (1975)
* Life & Times (1976)
* The Billy Cobham-George Duke Band: "Live" On Tour In Europe (1976)
* Magic (1977)
* Alivemutherforya (1978)
* Inner Conflicts (1978)
* Simplicity of Expression: Depth of Thought (1978)
* B.C. (1979)
* Live: Flight Time (1980)
* Stratus (1981)
* Observations & Reflections (1982)
* Observatory (1982)
* Smokin’ (1982)
* Warning (1985)
* Consortium (1985)
* Power Play (1986)
* Best Of (1987)
* Picture This (1987)
* Incoming (1989)
* No Filters (1990)
* By Design (1991)
* The Traveler (1993)
* Nordic (1996)
* Paradox (1996)
* Paradox, The First Second (1998)
* Mississippi Nights Live (1998)
* Focused (1999)
* Ensemble New Hope Street (1999)
* Nordic: Off Color (1999)
* North By NorthWest (2001)
* Drum and Voice (2002)
* The Art Of Three (2002) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3ifrxqtald6e
* Many Years B.C. (2002)
* The Art Of Five (2004) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dbfuxq8dldse
* Caravaggio (2005)
* Drum'n'voice 2 (2006)
* Fruit From The Loom (2008)

With Miles Davis

* Bitches Brew (1970)
* Live-Evil (1970)
* A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1970)
* On the Corner (1972)
* Get Up With It (1974)
* Circle in the Round (1979)
* Directions (1980)

With Horace Silver

* You’ve Got to Take a Little Love (1969)

With George Benson

* Giblet Gravy (1968)
* White Rabbit (1972)

With Quincy Jones

* The Anderson Tapes (1971)
* I Heard That!! (1976)

With Dreams

* Dreams (1970)
* Imagine My Surprise (1971)

With Kenny Burrell

* God Bless The Child (1971)

With James Brown

* Make It Funky: The Big Payback 1971-1975 (1996)

With Sonny Rollins

* Don’t Stop The Carnival (1978)

With Ron Carter

* Spanish Blue (1974)
* Uptown Conversation (1970)
* New York Slick (1980)

With Mahavishnu Orchestra

* Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
* Birds of Fire (1973)
* Between Nothingness and Eternity (1973)
* Mahavishnu (1984)

With Milt Jackson

* Sunflower (1972)

With Eumir Deodato

* Prelude (1973)
* Deodato 2 (1973)
* Whirlwinds (1974)

With John McLaughlin

* My Goals Beyond (1971)
* Electric Guitarist (1978)

With Santana/McLaughlin

* Love Devotion Surrender (1973)

With Carly Simon

* Hotcakes (1974)

With Gil Evans

* Live at the Public Theater (1980)

With Brothers Johnson

* Lookout For Number One (1976)

With Mose Allison

* Western Man (1971)
* Lessons in Living (1982)

With Les McCann

* Invitation To Openness (1971)

With Randy Weston

* Blue Moses (1972)

With Miroslav Vitous

* Purple (1970)

With Gene Ammons

* Big Bad Jug (1973)

With Ray Barretto

* The Other Road (1973)

With Stanley Clarke

* School Days (1976)

With McCoy Tyner

* Fly With The Wind (1976)

With Don Sebesky

* Giant Box (1973)

With Mark-Almond Band

* Rising (1972)
* To The Heart (1976)

With Johnny Hammond

* Breakout (1971)
* Rock Steady (1971)

With Grover Washington, Jr.

* All The King’s Horses (1972)
* Soul Box (1973)

With Al Johnson

* A Live Mother for Ya! (1977)

With Larry Coryell

* Spaces (1974)
* The Essential Larry Coryell (1975)
* Spaces Revisited (1997)

With Arif Mardin

* Journey (1974)

With Freddie Hubbard

* Sky Dive (1973)

With Cargo

* Cargo (1982)

With Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway

* "You've Got a Friend" (1980)

With Clarke/Duke Project

* Atlantis (1973)

With Fania All Stars

* Our Latin Thing (1972)

With Stanley Clarke and Larry Carlton

* Live at the Greek (1993)

With Jazz Is Dead

* Blue Light Rain (1998)

With Peter Gabriel

* Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ (1989)

With Junior Mance

* With a Lotta Help From My Friends (1970)

Spanky, the all music guide discography is neither complete nor 100% accurate. I've tried many times over the years to get them to make the corrections I've given them. No response nor corrections.


May I humbly suggest you use the most accurate and complete discography on Boomer that's available - the one on my site.
www.drumminfool.com . Sections as solo and as sideman. And I can verify the accuracy of all entries because I have everything that's listed.

Your humble archiver,

Ted

Ted thank you for that.

Ted, I was going to ask you if you have all the Billy Cobham albums listed on your homepage in your own collection, but you already answered the question. Have you met anybody in the States or Europe, who has a more comprehensive collection of Cobham albums than you have. My own guess is that the answer is no

I have nearly all Cobham solo albums, but not these:
Observatory (1982)
Consortium (1985)
No Filters (1990)
Many Years B.C. (2002)
Caravaggio (2005)

Are these compilation albums of previously released material?

Kind regards,
Anders

Hi Anders,

the only person whose collection is as complete as mine would be Mr. Fusion Mike Kermisch. Other than he, I've not met someone as crazy as the two of us !


I must add here that while I have everything listed on my site including the videos and magazines, I do not have all the compilation albums Boomer's music appears on. Some, but not all. I feel that there's no need to buy music I already have purchased just for the sake of having it on another album. However, when an album is re-issued with alternate or extra tracks included with Boomer on them, then I purchase that album for that reason. Examples of this would be some of the CTI or Kudu stuff or the complete Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson sessions.

My criteria is simple: IF Boomer is playin on it, then I want it in my collection.

Now to some of the things you listed:

First off - Observatory - There is no such album. This is one of the mistakes I alluded to on the all music Guide listings. They are referrring of course to Observations &. Where they got Observatory from I have no idea. I wrote to them several times about this one, and yet it's still there.

No Filters is a CD by Wolfgang Schmid's group Kick. this exists, and I have it.

Also have Consortium too. Difficult to find as it was a German release but it does come up on e-bay from time to time. Bill was part of the band on this one. Not Cobham material.

Many Years BC is a compilation. I don't have it, as I have the music already. Maybe I'll get it eventually.

Caravaggio - I had not heard of this. It seems like it is an album with Billy, Jeff Berlin and pianist Massimo Colombo from 2006. I'm trying to track down a copy of the CD instead of buying the downloads which are available from Rhapsody. It was mixed by Miroslav Vitous. Looks like another one to add to the collection. It's very hard to keep track of Boomer's recordings. He does so many, and then they dont' come out till years later in various parts of the world.

I'm still trying to get a hard copy of disc 3 of Triptych which came out only in Russia. I have the music on a download.

Hope that answers your questions !

Peace, TED

Thanks again Ted! Some years back you or somebody else mentioned that the Reflection part of the album Observations & was also recorded during that time period (1982). If so, are these tapes still sitting in the vaults? On many discographies the album Observation & is erroneously named Observations & Reflections. It’s a pity that this album (along with Smokin’ live) is not yet available on cd. If I would have to name three top Cobham solo albums, then Observations & would certainly be one of these. A great line up (Billy Cobham, Dean Brown, Tim Landers and Gil Goldstein) also on these albums.

Kind regards,
Anders

You're right Anders about Reflections. It was recorded as the companion/follow up to Observations & but was never released. So yes, it still sits in Boomer's vault or Elektra's.

I've asked/ begged Boomer for a copy or even a song from it and even asked him to release it only to the forum members . But he says "maybe someday". So whether or not we ever get to hear it is entirely up to him.

Another recording I want him to release are the recordings form the nights he played Iridium here in NY with the original Culture MIx and special guests Randy Brecker and Airto. Mr Fusion and I were there for 3 straight sets one night. I thought the playng was spectacular, but Boomer has told me he's not happy with the sound quality of the recordings.

Of course we have to understand that there is a big expense in bringing tracks to disc including licensing. Performers have to be paid to sign off. And the mastering process expenses.

Let's hope we can hear these things one day !

Peace, TED

Yes Anders,observations and reflections is one, or ...my favourite and i'm still dreaming of a remastered copy !!!maybe in a near future...peace,Stef

stephane wrote:Yes Anders,observations and reflections is one, or ...my favourite and i'm still dreaming of a remastered copy !!!maybe in a near future...peace,Stef

Hey, Stephane...

If memory serves me right, I believe hearing (reading) something about the masters to this great album being lost. This album is among my favorite BC records.

Also, I remember Billy saying at a clinic a very long time ago that he wished he'd had the opportunity to play with Jimi Hendricks.

Hi,

Here are two videclips of Billy Cobham with the Glass Menagerie line up (Dean Brown, Tim Landers and Gil Goldstein). It says 1978 on youtube, but the performance (Montreaux Jazz Festival) is actually from July 1982.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kucsAP4tlXY&feature=related M.S.R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqftAi-0st0&feature=related Nickels & Dimes


Kind regards,
Anders

Thanks for posting those. here is a clip of what is closer to the band i saw at the beacon theater way back when.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDCfZZmrI4E&NR=1

Thanks Kenny for sharing that! I didn't know that Tom Coster played with Billy Cobham already back in 1978. That tune "On A Magic Carpet Ride" is the opening track on Magic, another great album. Is Claude Nobs sitting on all these Montreaux Jazz Festival tapes? There are plenty of them in the vaults. I would be great if these were officially released on dvd. Some of them already have been released.

Kind regards,
Anders

Umm Permit me to suggest a few corrections here. First off, I believe that the keyboardist in the video is not Tom Coster but is Mark Soskin.

Secondly, Kenny is it possible you saw the band at the Bottom Line, as I did several times, instead of the Beacon Theatre ? I don't recall ever seeing Billy at the Beacon theatre but I could check my ticket stubs to be certain. The Beacon would have been too large a venue for them to sell out so the Bottom Line was more likely. There are 3 shows of this band to listen to at Wolfgang's Vault recorded at the Bottom LIne if you have the time.

And to Anders, it's not Claude Nobs who is sitting on those tapes, but Eagle vision who now owns the rights to all of the Montreux shows. Mr. Fusion has been trying to pry a bunch of those shows to distribute BUT the cost to release them would not be re-couped in sales. the licensing fees are astronomical. All the performers have to be paid to sign off on their performance. That's why only the bands that sell a lot of videos have been released in the Montreux series, James Brown, EL & P, Tull, Santana etc.If EAgle vision doesn't think they can sell 20,000 or more of a title, it won't get put out , period. And let's face it, fusion doesn't sell to the mass public. Never has. So the only way we get to see these gems is if a show like the Japanese Wowow purchases one for broadcast, someone copies it, and we get it thru the bootleg network. That's where a lot of the YouTube clips come from originally. Wish I could say otherwise, but that's the truth.

Peace, TED

oops and now I have to correct myself and apologize to Kenny. I did see Cobham at the Beacon in 1978. October 28th to be exact and the opening act was Michael Urbaniak. Had 4th row center too !. I went and checked my concert stub books after posting, which I should have done first. But I did also see Cobham in February 1978 at the Bottom Line as well , with the Magic band. Hence my confusion. Is that the show you saw too, Kenny ? Ah, those were the days !!!

Peace, forgetful TED

That is the show! lenny white was in the audience. I remember ursula dudziak sang that night. I was a big fan of them.

Boomer had some electronic stuff hooked up to the drums at one point. it was a ferocious show. they played alot of funk. then they sang bring up the house lights at the end. that was the good ol days. i saw ponty a bunch back then. i got in to see weather report at the beacon around back a guy that worked there let us in. dimeola played alot back then when he was still relevant.

i did get to see tony williams at the bottom line. were you there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIxswG7d84

Thanks Ted! I stand corrected. It's good though that we have this bootleg network, which enable collectors to trade tapes as many of these gems will never be officially released due to the reasons you mentioned. In the days before Internet finding trading partners for these tapes must have been somewhat harder.

Kind regards,
Anders

Some years back, when I found out that Billy played on some James Brown tunes, I was floored. And last week I find out that he even played on a Brothers Johnson tune. But the Ain't it Funky tune by Brown, that Billy played on, is very funky, and I love playing that tune myself. Has anyone ever heard Billy talk about James Brown ?

spanky wrote:Some years back, when I found out that Billy played on some James Brown tunes, I was floored. And last week I find out that he even played on a Brothers Johnson tune. But the Ain't it Funky tune by Brown, that Billy played on, is very funky, and I love playing that tune myself. Has anyone ever heard Billy talk about James Brown ?

Yes, Spanky, he has. And the only tune he spoke of recording with JB was the tune "King heroin". Are you sure your sources are correct concerning, "Ain't if funky now"?

Don't right Spanky- the only tune Boomer played on with James brown was King Heroin.

And I did some checking again on the allmusic.com site. Still many mistakes, the same ones I've told e them about , are still there. I mean they have Boomer playing flute on one album and tuba and bass clarinet on another. Now the man is talented, but he plays drums, and a little piano. tha's all I'm aware of. I mean check the very first entry. They have him playing with Gene Ammons in 1958. Boomer was 14 years old in 1958. He did play with Gene Ammons later on, on the album Big Bad Jug. the first entry should be George Benson- giblet Gravy

To Kenny - I did see Tony Williams at the Bottom Line on July 7, 1979. Opening band was So What.. that was the night I got 4 sticks from Tony for the collection, a used pair and a brand new pair. I also saw Tony June 4, 1977 at the Palladium - opening band was Stuff and headliner was Maynard Ferguson Big Band. Tony had Hiram Bullock on guitar that night. Also saw Tony at the Blue Note with the Quintet [Wallace Roney]. Opening band that night was the Billy Cobham Trio with Vic Juris on guitar. Billy and Tony from 5 feet away. Billy's Mom and Dad sat at my table. Very, very gracious people, may they both Rest in Peace ! Easily the best drum night of my life, even surpassing the Zildjian Day in New York, which I also attended.

Peace, TED

Ted E. Bear wrote:Don't right Spanky- the only tune Boomer played on with James brown was King Heroin.

And I did some checking again on the allmusic.com site. Still many mistakes, the same ones I've told e them about , are still there. I mean they have Boomer playing flute on one album and tuba and bass clarinet on another. Now the man is talented, but he plays drums, and a little piano. tha's all I'm aware of. I mean check the very first entry. They have him playing with Gene Ammons in 1958. Boomer was 14 years old in 1958. He did play with Gene Ammons later on, on the album Big Bad Jug. the first entry should be George Benson- giblet Gravy

To Kenny - I did see Tony Williams at the Bottom Line on July 7, 1979. Opening band was So What.. that was the night I got 4 sticks from Tony for the collection, a used pair and a brand new pair. I also saw Tony June 4, 1977 at the Palladium - opening band was Stuff and headliner was Maynard Ferguson Big Band. Tony had Hiram Bullock on guitar that night. Also saw Tony at the Blue Note with the Quintet [Wallace Roney]. Opening band that night was the Billy Cobham Trio with Vic Juris on guitar. Billy and Tony from 5 feet away. Billy's Mom and Dad sat at my table. Very, very gracious people, may they both Rest in Peace ! Easily the best drum night of my life, even surpassing the Zildjian Day in New York, which I also attended.

Peace, TED

Ok' thank you Ted, how could they, Wikipedia, being one of the number one sites on the web make so many mistakes ? This mkes me think about all the other info, that I have read from them over the years.

With humility, I suggest that we/those who emulate, create! May our mentor(s) ever find joy in seeing their "children" go farther and with greater results. I think that's the purpose of a "father," instead of living vicariously through another...

I share on more than just a musical level... With humility...

Suss wrote:With humility, I suggest that we/those who emulate, create! May our mentor(s) ever find joy in seeing their "children" go farther and with greater results. I think that's the purpose of a "father," instead of living vicariously through another...

I share on more than just a musical level... With humility...

''

VERY well said, Uncle.... I'll tell you what I've learned over the years though.... Many of those who emulate will never allow themselves to strive to be as good or 'better"( for what that word is worth) than even those they emulate. Many continue to push their hero's out in front and have convinced themselves that they can never be as good as a Billy Cobham, Virgil Donati or a John Sussewell.

Neph.

I haven't checked Wikipedia Spanky - I was referring to allmusic.com which has most of the music of the ages catalogued there. Maybe I'll take a look and see what it looks like.

And just remember, just because someone has put it on the Internet, doesn't necessarily make it true !

Peace, TED

Ted E. Bear wrote:I haven't checked Wikipedia Spanky - I was referring to allmusic.com which has most of the music of the ages catalogued there. Maybe I'll take a look and see what it looks like.

And just remember, just because someone has put it on the Internet, doesn't necessarily make it true !

Peace, TED

Thats where I got it from Ted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Cobham_discography

Okay Spanky. I checked the Wikipedia list and they have innacuracies and omissions galore, too.

Lets's start with Boomer's solo albums:

Observatory - no such album
Consortium - Billy was a part of this group. it is not a Cobham solo album
No Filters - Boomer is a sideman on this Wolfgang Schmid album

they left out many solo albums too like:

Live in Rome
Art of 3 Live in Japan Vol . 1
Art of 3 Live in Japan Vol. 2
Culture Mix and there's more

Alivemuthaforya is by the CBS All-Stars of which Boomer was a member, not a Cobham solo album. they also credit it again under Al Johnson. meaning Alphonso Johnson.

Under Ron Carter they left out:
Blues Farm
All Blues
Yellow & Green
Empire Jazz

Under George Benson they left out:
Blue Benson
California Concert

Under Mahavishnu Orchestra they left out Lost Trident Sessions

Under Mark Almond they credit Boomer for playing on Rising. He does not. He plays on To the Heart. I remember even buying that album because lists insisted he played on it. Boomer even said he did, and I had to show him the album at one of his shows to change his mind.

And there are tons of other omissions which I don't have time to list here.

The biggest inaccuracy of all is the Introducing Billy Cobham CD which came out with Lenny White's picture on the cover and in the inside.

You know what's interesting. The Italian Wikipedia has a link to my site. I didn't ask them to do that but they put it on their site. The reason I know is that I get a number of hits every month from that link, people just checking for the right information.

I'm proud to say that I have every item listed on my site and nothing is put there until I personally have it in the collection. I'm awaiting my delivery of Caravaggio, which I had not known about, and I am still trying to track down a CD copy of Shulgin's Songbook, Vol. 3 Tryptich which has only been released in Russia. I do have an mp3 copy of the album , though. So these do not appear in the discography yet.

Your humble archiver, TED

Ted you are the best dude, I love you man.