Jazz rock drummer Billy Cobham (1944) is looking for his roots. Contrary to what you might expect, the man of the seventies looks for fusion hits like Red Barron and Stratus not with Miles Davis (whose Bitches Brew he also worked on) or Jimi Hendrix or with jazz drummers like Elvin Jones and Art Blakey, but in the Caribbean. Cobham was born in Panama. However, he exchanged that country for the United
… States at the age of three. In 2002 he met the Cuban son group Asere during a Womad festival in Spain. He decided to work with them in search of his roots in Latin music. This already resulted in a DVD and now results in the CD De Cuba Y De Panama. Together with Asere Cobham makes very catchy son en danzon, in which he takes a remarkably modest attitude. Only now and then you can hear his characteristic deep drum rolls, for the most part he works together with the 'congeros' and 'timbaleros' of Asere on an exciting Cuban groove. (HB)more
