Drum Teacher Reacts to Billy Cobham - Drum Solo

Drum Teacher Reacts to Billy Cobham - Drum Solo
Garey Williams reacts and analysis Billy Cobham Soloing.
Original Video - • Video
Check out Garey's Online Drumset Artistry school for drummers: garey-williams...
If you would like to study with Garey Williams go to www.gareywilliams.com or www.drumsetartistry.com
Check out my new Facebook group, Drumset Artistry Mastermind. Where Mind, Body and Spirit unite to create drumming greatness. / drums. .
This song is the copyrighted property of it's owner(s). Fair use allows re-purposing content for educational, critical, and commentary purposes.
Category
Music

[@drummusicinc4027]

Oh my god.... Cobham is just so amazing. That ride pattern he does at the top WITH his LEFT hand.... the guy just blows my mind. The spectrum record made me want to play double bass, I’ve been 40 years as a gigging drummer, 25 as an instructor, he still drops my jaw....🥁✌️🎶🔥

[@roblastem2905]

Billy Cobham is the man. There’s a video of his called, “Tenth Pinn” right around the 9:26 mark it gets pretty ridiculous haha

[@KC-gy5xw]

3 base drums. I got to sit at his kit at The Jazz Cafe many years ago. Seen him at least 6 times, my brother sees him every time he's here. Damn, I think Billy knows him by name.. he at least recognises the manic love my bro has for him!! He keeps Billy's broken sticks as trophies..

[@AllenSJ5]

Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers - the kings of the incredibly fast and powerful single strokes.

[@guyharrison4644]

erm no....Cobham so much better taste wise....

[@stevenlaux741]

Cobham is a beast! Miss you Garey.

[@ciaranobrien6414]

Thanks Garey that puts such a welcome finale to the weekend. Billy Cobham what a player. I remember way back as a teenager and his album "spectrum" was playing in a large London record store one Saturday morning when I was there for the weekend about 1983. It was like God had landed on earth with such power and energy with the drums. I managed to see Billy play live in 1995 at Blackheath Hall and his status will live for ever with thousands of lesser mortal drummers .Many thanks again Garey for your wonderful analysis with the breakdown videos. Best wishes to you and all drummers in the US too in these tricky tines. Ciaran from Ireland

[@philipsummers9682]

👍 looking forward to seeing Billy Cobham and his band later this year in Manchester, UK

[@DrumsetArtistry]

Cool!

[@DavidLeBlanc]

Three superb musicians. It's fun to watch them play. I could listen to that endlessly.

[@ronvillarreal5003]

Unbelievable artist Billy is man!!!

[@travelinben1966]

Billy Cobham and Lenny White really made me wish I was a drummer!👍

[@alanconrad8490]

Billy and Lenny made me realize Id NEVER play like THAT lol

[@travelinben1966]

@@alanconrad8490 Right!

[@MrChristophersilva]

Incredible chops - Cobham is amazing. Would love to see you look at Trilok Gurtu ....

[@robertperrella4194]

that billy cobham drum solo was AWESOME indeed !!!!!

[@EleanorPeterson]

I'm not a huge fan of 'reaction' videos, but one thing that I absolutely LOVE about them is... everybody's smiling. There's no ego nonsense or grim, "Who's the best?" crap - it's just a guy getting the most out of a piece of music, enjoying it, having a ball - which is the whole point of playing in the first place! :-) ♥

[@kevinwilkins3248]

Thank you, Garey! Billy is on my personal Mt Rushmore of drummers.

[@fusionfan6883]

Cobham was influential at so many levels, and lets not forget what an amazing composer he is too sustaining and incredible career since the early 70s. This clip only shows one side of him, as an mazing jazz drummer, but his early work with Mahavishnu is what really put him on the map as the fusion monster he is (although of course he was highly regarded before the MO due to his session and other work). And he continues to amaze to this day.

[@richardmurphy8744]

I love BILLY COBHAM, AND BILL BRUFORD!

[@rk41gator]

YES! Mahavishnu Orchestra. Incredible group having a huge influence.

[@donnielsen154]

I saw Billy 45 years earlier with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Central park and again in in Atlanta when he was playing a triple bass and a lot more drums; the synthesized drums parts were simply amazing; he is THE best drummer I have ever heard in the last 50 years of listening to music

[@rondarnell949]

Mahavisnue Orchestra live in Syracuse NY 1969. Even though it's in black and white it is totally amazing of how good each and every one of the wete

[@macgearalit]

Billy Cobham being the drummer of Mahavishnu Orchestra . Mind blowing indeed .

[@evertvanderhik5774]

One of my favs. You have to check out his live solos when he does You Know You Know with the mahavishnu orchestra. He absolutely explodes.

[@DonII1980]

Great video Garey! Was fortunate to see him play with his band live at Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA)... was first introduced to him when I first listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra, was just BLOWN away by the awesome power, finesse and precision! Very tasty playing too! Would love to see a drum solo review for one of my favorites, Airto Moreira!!

[@bobbydale1938]

Billy oh wow !!

[@godbluffvdgg]

I remember seeing Billy C at the Chestnut Cabaret, here in philly; I believe it was his Spectrum Tour...Great show...His Work with Mahavishnu is legendary...Those who haven't heard it; One Word or Miles Beyond...Some MONSTER drumming!

[@Oneness100]

check out all of the old MO concert recordings on www.wolfgangs.com. They play some of the tracks from the studio albums 2x faster, easily. Some really juicy nuggets of playing...

[@phillipschuman4307]

@@Oneness100 I remember when I heard the first MO album, The Inner Mounting Flame, I thought no one can play that tight, that fast, live. Then when I saw them live, they played the entire album in order, and much much faster.

[@Oneness100]

@@phillipschuman4307 I remember when I first heard that album, I was just in my early years of learning how to play drums. I couldn't comprehend the time signatures, which just led me to listen to the records continuously for literally 3 years straight. That's all I could listen to was MO. the only band that left me speechless for literally 3 days after going to their concert in Nov. '73. Every other band sounded like they were on downers. It was literally impossible to listen to anything else for it just wouldn't match up. I also noticed that they played many of the songs live at about 2x faster tempos. ever check out all of the live concerts on Wolfgangs vault? They have more than what's on KZbin. There's also a couple of concerts from '75 which the smaller band that are insane too.

[@phillipschuman4307]

@@Oneness100 This thread is the first I'm learning of Wolfgang's vault, so no, I haven't checked it out so far. I surely will, and I'm thankful to get this tip!

[@Oneness100]

@@phillipschuman4307 I've been a serious collector of MO recordings before KZbin had them posted. I even have a MO tee shirt. 🙂

[@TurnFullCircle]

Amazing...! Cheers

[@RoryVanucchi]

Plenty of power with Billy. Monster

[@fusionfan6883]

And of course Gary Husband was BC's keyboard player for years before joining John McLaughlin as his keyboard player. Gary really is a renaissance musician being world class on drums and keyboards, and having the joy of playing with an incredible variety of amazing musicians, particularly the genre changing maestros Allan Holdsworth and John McLaughlin.

[@Tony_Williams_Right_Hand]

Monster drummer. What a touch he had in MO. Whenever I listen to that band I think I’m on the Magic School Bus with a promiscuous Ms. Frizzle.

[@antoinepaine8097]

Please do a review like this on one of his solos from 1972 (live in Munich with mahavishnu) or Chateauvallon :)

[@oneanddone7992]

Billy plays with the power and strength of Thomas Pridgen, but was doing so 50 years ago, and combines it with complete mastery of the kit, time signatures, stick control, finger control, and timing.

[@argosron9838]

Exactly, man, you said it better than all other comments, love what you say, bro !

[@Oneness100]

NO, please don't compare the two. Cobham is on a different level of technique, finger control, etc. Pridgen tends to bash his kit. Cobham stabs the crash cymbals and finesses his ride and he plays more off the kits rather than down into the kit..

[@warren_r]

Goodness, that was great. Herbie was outstanding here too.

[@larrymarcus3176]

I was surprised you evaluated boomer’s drumming during the bop period. He demonstrated mastery and power but he truly shines playing fusion. His capability of marrying rudiments that are akin to field drumming with sublime articulation while playing a disco beat and playing totally ambidextrously shows the brilliance of this brilliant and talented man. Check out any of the George Duke Billy Cobham van material especially “ivory tattoo” before there was you tube I had to figure out if he was playing cowbell or someone else was while he was laying down a groove and improvising fills that melt your face. He was cowbelling and made it look simple. There are few drummers with his level of articulation speed power and sense of musicality. Dennis Chambers is one. These guys lay down the foundation for the rest of us mere mortals to aspire to and even though they are both getting on in years still do.

[@drummusicinc4027]

Absolutely true.... jaw dropping stuff...🥁🔥🎶

[@jasonread5017]

check out brazilian love affair album by george.drums and bass player are right on it..george is like no one .he could do every thing and always had a smile on his big face

[@devileddegge]

In 1972 I was music major in applied percussion. A friend said I would like a band playing at the Armadillo World Headquarters for $3.50. it was the mahavishnu orchestra! And I paid $3.50 more than next night to go be amazed again at Billy Cobham.

[@georgepitts1057]

I drive for 5 hours to see the original Mahavishnu Orchestra .... Cobham's hands were literally a blur .... my first thought was "DO NOT get into a fight with this guy !!!!"

[@maxwellgordon9868]

The first drummer from Megadeth, Gar Samuelson was inspired by billy Cobham! Gar was a monster on the drums.

[@Nissardpertugiu]

A shitload of 1st and 2nd wave of metal drummers were influenced by mahavishnu . Mahavishnu was pretty balls out and raw and some of stuff to me could be heavy metal

[@magiscichoam]

In addition to his ethereally brilliant drumming with “The Mahavishnu Orchestra” (especially “Birds Of Fire”) listen to Billy Cobham’s dazzling drumming on Miles Davis “Bitches Brew”, “Deodato Prelude”, “Deodato 2”, “Spectrum”, “Crosswinds”, “Drum ‘N’ Voice, Vol 3” and any of his recordings with George Duke. These and other recordings clearly and irrefutably demonstrate the staggering vastness of Cobham’s creativity, power and versatility.

[@wadsmitter511]

Great video! Billy was a monster, and does not sound 40/50 years older today!

[@RoryVanucchi]

Gary here's a great clip: Dave Brubeck Quartet 1966 Joe Morello Extended Drum Solo - “Blues for Joe”

[@jasonread5017]

gary would you do an analise on peter erskine's drumsolo ...1978 weather report concert .called Young And Fine...live in Otenboura I think the towns called...love your brain..your so intune with life i think .Jason from Down Under and Kangaroo's are in the country ;not in the City.ha ha...just to let usa know.

[@Tony_Williams_Right_Hand]

Peter is indomitable friend. I adore Weather Report. I think Alex Acuna, the wonderous Peruvian drummer who played a lot of Black Market material that same 1978 year in Montreux, was also incredibly stupendous. However I always return to their sophomore album, I Sing the Body Electric, where Eric Gravatt was just simply a powerhouse on the 3 live renditions on the latter half of the album, especially on the song Directions. Happy listening friend. God I love billy here. On MO debut album, their live rendition of The Noonward Race showcases Billy’s sheer power and endurance.

[@jasonread5017]

@@Tony_Williams_Right_Hand luv that word INDOMITABLE.Looked upthe meaning of it and it fits peters playing poetically.al dimiola said peter played like a poet.i realize how much peter can control his internal energy: to always be still whilst moving.he is almost like a diciplined preist yogi type person.he looks soft on the out side but inside he is made of steel....daniel luv your comand of the english launguage.

[@Nissardpertugiu]

Billy is incredibly original and distinctive even with One pedal here as in Horace silver day Maybe doing a mahavishnu or a solo solo with his usual double bass kit ?

[@CaliforniaBushman]

No wonder so many guys - Simon, Terry, Vinnie, and thousands more were so inspired by Billy.

[@Mazzini11]

Danny Carey BIG TIME

[@thecolemanayers4713]

You gotta watch billy cobham George duke band ivory tattoo

[@olivierchapron7122]

Great ! Could you react to Alex Acuna ? Or Peter Erskine ?

[@Tony_Williams_Right_Hand]

Weather Report is my favorite friend. Both of those players are absolutely remarkable

[@DrumsetArtistry]

Yes

[@chuckschwarz9818]

Check out the Apectrum album from 1973

[@simone6611]

I really love your channel, and I really enjoy with the reactions to the solos. You are making a fantastic review of most of the best drummers of all time. I would be helpful, suggesting you other drummer, that in my opinion are great drummers as well. I'm curious to know your opinion about: - Jon Hiseman (Colosseum) - Terry Bozio (Frank Zappa) - Jeff Porcaro (Toto) - Vinnie Colaiuta - Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta) - Roger Taylor (Queen) - Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) - Cozy Powell (Rainbow)

[@ragu168]

You are the man for putting up these videos so thanks!!! Now you and I know Billy is the man as well seen him a lot sat right in front of his kit yes so close I gave him a beer while he was playing !!!! And sat with him and had a beer shooting the breeze a great person and his style of playing is just amazing what a powerful player! ( Oh and did see him with the John mcglock. Band) sorry for the bad spelling of his name.

[@JohandeHakkelaar]

Please check Ainsley Dunbar

[@michaelmarino3013]

He starts out fast but he's got gas . I n his tank.lots if it I seen mahavisnu 15xmahavidhnu were a hard touring band they played everywhere.billy powerhouse .check out Billy first solo lp.with guitar Tommy bolin.thsnjs Garey.....

[@lamecasuelas2]

The Monster!!

[@Oneness100]

Do a reaction to Trilok Gurtu. There's videos of him with John McLaughlin that are insane.. Check them out, there's full concerts and you need to sift through them. He's one of the more inspiring contemporary players after guys like Cobham. I wish there were more videos of Tony Smith playing with Jan Hammer Group, he was a treat to watch. He's a great player with a unique approach to odd time signatures and playing musical..

[@DrumsetArtistry]

Thanks for the suggestion! Will do :-)

[@epifaniocortez]

Please do react to akira jimbo

[@solitude731]

Hey you should do the new Pneuma drum video man!

[@DrumsetArtistry]

Only drum solos for now.

[@solitude731]

@@DrumsetArtistry The whole song is a drum solo.

[@septemberlxxx508]

Billyyyyyyy superrrr

[@tommylarsson2025]

His snare sound is really one of his signatures. Don't really know what it is in that sound that made me just knowing that it's the great B Cobham.

[@stratoleft]

Furthermore, in regards to my own comment earlier, Lenny White is also a composer. His composition being one of my all time favorites, Sorceress. As of late, I have thought of something maybe I could do along with Lenny White's composition without following Corea's lead. I know everybody thinks Corea is all clever and such, but I think I could strum up something different on guitar, again not follow Corea's lead on the whole song, and revolve it in such a way as to put Lenny White back in the center for his own solo on the tune he composed. So many possibilities on Lenny White's famous and cool song. I just don't know where to begin.

[@dennismason3740]

I saw Mahavishnu twice in 1971. Billy was (is?) possessed by a being from the Percussion Universe, also known as One Beat. He ain't human. Ginger's solos are also very entertaining.

[@tommylarsson2025]

Great drummer! The album "Spectrum" was a big inspiration when I was a teenager. Really powerful guy!

[@funkybassguy68]

He played with Stanley Clarke on School Days as well if memory serves. I listened to that album so many times its not funny. Great drummer, one of my inspirations

[@eddiebeatz628]

Love the vids! You should check out david diepold amazing metal drummer hes rank up with derek roddy and george kollias

[@Garry1351]

He played left handed from the waist up appearing open handed , no ? Tony Williams was first asked to do Mahivininu Orchestra ,couldn't do it , so Billy made history with that band .

[@coffeefoot]

Not so. JM came to the states and played with Miles and Tony( with Lifetime). JM left Miles to form his own band.

[@Mazzini11]

I've always felt like Tool is the metal version of Mahavishnu Orchestra. At least the original members.

[@oneanddone7992]

Gary Husband is a drumming master.

[@mjm5081]

❤

[@BionicThiago123]

Check out a Brazilian gospel drummer named Cleverson Silva. Could be a cool reaction vid.

[@DrumsetArtistry]

Send me a link. Thanks!

[@BionicThiago123]

Drumset Artistry kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHuWZ3iXfbqoZs0. Or kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6mUoYSqqLyXn8U Here you go sir!

[@carloslozada470]

This sounds like the music from the road runner

[@alexanderednie6185]

Check out ADAM DEITCH!!!!

[@dantean]

Cobham was the ONE "fusion" drummer of the "big three" (Mahavishnu, Return to Forever, and Weather Report) who authentically brought a rock drummer's aesthetic to their band. Great as Lenny and the revolving WR guys were, only Billy ever got that a rock drummer is supposed to be a caveman, and if you're "fusing" rock with jazz and swinging with the right hand (reverse this for Lenny White, of course) you'd better be doing something brutal with the left, yet NONE of his peers ever managed to channel the beast the way rock drummers are expected to. Don't like Mountain's Corky Laing? That's fine. Only, you're not a rock drummer. Ditto Aynsley Dunbar, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, and countless others I could name. Next to Billy, the RTF and WR guys were simply skilled, clever, and cute. HIGHLY so, but still. And everyone AFTER them have been mere devotees and acolytes. Which reminds me: Aynsley Dunbar's work with The Mothers of Invention deserves your consideration. Not for fetishizing his soloing, but for the genius of his every measure of Zappa's complicated arrangements. He's Frank's MOST recorded drummer for a reason. It's unfortunate you've never noticed him until now.

[@DrumsetArtistry]

thanks for all yur great info and comment! I have been aware of some drummer more than others. I will check out some of Ansley Dunbars playing with Zappa. Thanks!

[@MrLeeziebee]

Most mortal men are unprepared for the mighty unchained power of the god king Billy Cobham. The onlt man to have defeated Godzilla with his bare hands.

[@guyharrison4644]

With respect,I don`t you can follow him.....Billy Cobham unbelievable.

[@stratoleft]

Hey drummers? You people think somebody has to know about drums to appreciate the magical ability of Billy Cobham? I couldn't care less what you teach. You can throw in the absolutely phenomenal Tony Williams in with that, but I'll stretch this issue out in the collective faces of you drummers any day of the week. Newsflash: Billy Cobham just doesn't sit back there playing drums impressing people with solos. He is a composer. Just like any of your composers in music history, Cobham's compositions are one-of-a-kind. Saxophone players appreciate what he has composed, guitar players, bass players, you name it. Period.

[@Oneness100]

$5 says they didn't rehearse for that gig.

dennis chambers

[@DrumsetArtistry]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4irXnSim9R4i9U

[@MikeTomano]

YES!!! That buttoned-up shirt & tie has to be uncomfortable!

[@billd9667]

Explaining why the piano is classified as a percussion instrument…

[@raymondmancini2738]

Please if you will when reacting to a video make the artist the prime subject in scope of video.Reduce yourself in size increase the size of the artist because it’s very easy to view your reaction but very difficult to see a moving target who obtains only a quarter of the screen thank you for your Consideration. It’s hard to appreciate a reaction when you cannot see what you are reacting to

[@DrumsetArtistry]

I'll consider doing that. Thanks!