Blindfold Test: Billy Cobham

By Michael Jackson I Nov. 19, 2024

Jazz journalist Michael Jackson, left, dispenses a live Blindfold Test to drum master Billy Cobham.
(Photo: Alfie Jackson)

Drum king Billy Cobham, who, believe it or not, turned 80 in May, ruled the roost at January’s Panama Jazz Festival. As the 21st PJF’s Colon-born laureate, he didn’t spare the horses, conducting a master class, performing in a Panamanian super trio with bassist Alex Blake and festival founder Danilo Peréz and delivering a sold-out set with his epochal Spectrum 50 plus the stellar Global Jazz Big Band directed by Guy Barker. This was his first Blindfold Test, conducted at Villa Agustina, a hip venue in the heart of Panama City’s picturesque old town. Cobham responded with deep critical insights to a dozen drum-heavy tracks. Here are the edited highlights.

Allison Miller

“For The Fish” (Rivers In Our Veins, Royal Potato Family, 2023) Miller, drums, percussion, vibraphone; Jenny Scheinman, violin; Jason Palmer, trumpet; Ben Goldberg, clarinet, contra-alto clarinet; Carmen Staaf, piano; Todd Sickafoose, bass. Tapdancers: Claudia Rahardjanoto, Michelle Dorrance, Elizabeth Burke, Bryon Tittle, Orlando Hernandez.

Wow, I’m speechless … that sounded amazing. Inventive, disciplined. They played within the sandbox template and everybody was in sync with each other. That’s the foundation for everything we do. A sonic portrait, including clarinet, trumpet, drums, that represented everyone in the band. Pretty unique. 4 stars.

Yusef Lateef

“Water Pistol” (Into Something, Prestige/OJC, 1961) Lateef, tenor saxophone; Herman Wright, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.

[hums “I Got Rhythm” changes under the melody] Is the drummer Philly Joe Jones? Highly influenced by him and Elvin Jones. Only sounded like Elvin at the end. I heard all that chattering in front and thought, Elvin? That’s different … . Is that Jimmy Garrison on bass? The saxophone player, Booker Ervin? Coleman Hawkins? The mountain man, Yusef Lateef? 5 stars.

Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Tony Oxley/John Surman

“Spe-Cu-Lay-Ting” (In The Evenings Out There, ECM, 1993) Bley, piano; Peacock, bass; Oxley, drums; Surman, saxophone.

Definitely not the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It’s not Don Moye, although it could be …

Michael Jackson: The drummer is a Yorkshireman, where I’m from.

Billy Cobham: Really? I know two Yorkshiremen. One is quite conservative and only plays drums, and the other plays more than drums, even sings, piano and guitar. Tony Oxley? What was nice about Tony, he played with Bill Evans. They had a relationship that was unique and transcended different bass players. 3 stars.

Max Roach

“Dr. Free-Zee” (Max Roach + Four, Emarcy, 1956) Roach, drums, tympani; Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Kenny Dorham, trumpet; George Morrow, bass; Ray Bryant, piano.

Roy Haynes? Roy had a handcrank tympani in the set for a while when he was with Ludwig and experimenting. He played de-dat, de-dat, with a high-pitched set of drums. He played very tight, what they identified as “snap, crackle.” He had an 18-inch bass drum that was a cannon, or it might have been 16- or 18-inch with no dampening — boom. If it wasn’t Roy, who else? Billy Hart? [afterwards] He didn’t use the pedals, so he had three tympani, pre-tuned. Hmmm …

Jackson: What does “Dr. Free-Zee” mean to you?

Cobham: That Max is completely out of his mind, even in death! [laughter] He always had these titles, amazing. 5 stars.

Chico Hamilton

“My Panamanian Friend” (My Panamanian Friend–The Music Of Eric Dolphy, Soul Note, 1994) Hamilton, drums; Eric Person, flute, alto saxophone; Kenny Davis, bass; Cary De Negris, guitar.

That’s a hard one, I heard Art Blakey, Max, a little bit of Tony [Williams]. I thought I heard me at first. I thought, “My God, I hope I don’t embarrass myself.” The bass drum sounds like he’s playing with Papa Joe Jones’ powder puff beater, but no.

Jackson: It’s dedicated to another Panamanian, Eric Dolphy, and the drummer played with him in 1958 in the movie Jazz on a Summer’s Day. How many stars?

Cobham: Chico Hamilton? Not many, I’m not impressed by that.

Dafnis Prieto Big Band

“The Triumphant Journey” (Back To The Sunset, Dafnison, 2018) Prieto, drums; Mike Rodriguez, Nathan Eklund, Alex Sipiagin, Josh Deutsch, trumpets; Peter Apfelbaum, Chris Cheek, Joel Frahm, Roman Filiu, Michael Thomas, saxophones; Alan Ferber, Tim Albright, Jeff Nelson, Jacob Garchik, trombones; Manuel Valera, piano; Ricky Rodriguez, bass; Roberto Quintero, percussion.

The arrangement has a very organic feeling. It’s not restricted in a specific tempo to a specific feeling or groove, yet at the same time, wherever they go, it’s very defined and then, all of a sudden, it switches, which is why I am laughing, ’cause I do that a lot. 4 stars.

Tony Williams Lifetime

“Proto-Cosmos” (Believe It, Columbia Records, 1975) Williams, drums; Tony Newton, bass and vocals; Alan Holdsworth, guitar; Alan Pasqua, keyboards.

Marco Minneman, a very good drummer from Germany? Tony Williams? I was thinking Tony was the only player I know who could fill in gaps … supply a tremendous amount of supportive energy equal to the soloist, but not get in the way. I never figured it out, nor could he. That’s why he never told me. I was blessed to work with and beside Tony. 5 stars.

Big Sid Catlett

“Rose Room” (Esquire Metropolitan Opera House Jam Session New York 1944, V-Disc), Catlett, drums; Art Tatum, piano; Barney Bigard, clarinet; Al Casey, guitar; Oscar Pettiford, bass.

Papa Jo Jones? Not Chick [Webb]? [afterwards] Big Sid. I only saw him on CBS or YouTube. For me, Catlett played musically. Lots of stuff on the snare but that bass drum — four on the floor, boom-boom-boom, didn’t play a lot of hi-hat. Synchronization — he always played within himself. Kept a sense of timing, not the time — everything was human, not robotic. He was also very visual — he’d do tricks with his sticks, but timing and phrasing were very important. DB

The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.