There are concerts, and there are clinics…
At 78 years old, the legendary drummer Billy Cobham has nothing to prove to his audience, but judging by the 90 minute set at the Agoura Hills Canyon Club, he still has a lot to give. With a 50+ year career ranging from sessions with Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cobham was a musical fountain of youth with his latest incarnation of his Crosswinds Project. Boasting a team of Mark Whitfield/g, Scott Tibbs/key and Tim Landers/b, Cobham took the packed house through a musical journey that was a culmination of all his has imbibed these decades and, like a master teacher, wishes to pass on.
High on the list of feels was the funky backbeat of pieces such as “Crosswinds”, yet in Cobham’s hands teamed with a relentless undercurrent which teamed up with Whitfield’s elastic and sinewy solos. From the most recent album, “Pleasant Pheasant” had the leader pop the clutch into an uptempo groover of fusion that had Tibbs and Landers rollicking, while the keyboardist seared over Cobham’s rocking shuffle of “Paseo Del Mar.”
\The cohesion of the team was adeptly displayed on the high wire act of the galloping “On The Move” as the back beat went from funk to rock to swing under Tibbs’ swirling solos, and Whitfield whirled around the hairpin turns like a Formula 1 driver.
One the other side of sounds, Tibbs opened up the delicate “Be Calm” with a spacious and dreamy use of the keys, and Cobham, with two sticks in each hand, produced a soft tribal rumble of sustained restraint for a foundation of Whitfield’s melodic musings.
Cobham then gave a workshop of a solo, with a use of his mind as well as his drums that changed dynamics, grooves and even continents, with tips of the sticks to his roots of bop, swing and Afro Cuban, all creating an exhibit of what 50 years of creativity can result in.
The team then ricocheted through the intricate “Taurian Matador” that featured Landers leading the start-stops of the cleverly arranged piece, while the hard hitting “Stratus” mixed heavyweight jabs and punches with a deep rivulet that Tibbs and Whitfield were able to dig out of with their musical shovels.
The closing “Mescalero” had the evening end with a soulful strut, as Whitfield, playing in the line of Grant Green and George Benson, delivered tasty strings of a jogger’s pulse of melodies.
Between songs, Cobham confessed to the audience, “It’s always about trying to reach perfection”. Cobham, a mere mortal, still comes closer than most under God’s watchful eye.
Upcoming shows at the Agoura Hills Canyon Club include 09/18 Eric Gales, 09/23 Danny Seraphine & CTA, 10/07 Poncho Sanchez, 10/07 The Spinners and 10/16 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band doing Dylan