Billy Vanilla

I'm rubbish at reviewing jazz, despite the fact that I listen to a fair amount. See below. I'm fucking atrocious at reviewing classical, despite the vast amount I play nowadays. So, back to the sticky carpeted indie dives for me, I suppose.


BILLY COBHAM, THE ZODIAC, 18/10/06 (Oxford Contemporary Music)


“There’s a top five list of drummers. Then there’s a separate column that just says: ’Cobham’”. So said Al Cisneros from stoner metal duo Om in a recent interview. Praise from a surprising source, perhaps, but then Cobham always was Miles Davis’ most solid drummer, especially when compared to Tony Williams’ shivering jitter. In tonight’s collaboration with Cuban son outfit Asere, which dates back to WOMAD 2002, Cobham once again proves he has a weighty authority behind the traps that isn’t easily matched.

The best evidence is the very first number, a slow and rather polite latin tune that comes to life about halfway through when Cobham starts dropping some depth charges. Sure, the first couple of minutes weren’t unpleasant, with trumpeter Micehl Padron, who is probably Asere’s star, unfurling some supple airy lines like Dizzy Gillespie at half speed, but the game is raised when Cobham deposits chunky breaks that feel about to burst out of the seams of the tune. To these ears the perky rhythms of Cuban music often recall a panting dog, a little too eager to please - “Are we having fun guys? Are we, huh??” – and this band manage to avoid this excitability with some well-fed rhythms. Cobham doesn’t play fast, or loud, or flashy, he just plays...fat. Throughout the night we witness what starts out as fairly generic, and even coffee table, latin music slowly morphing into something a little more intriguing. It’s an impressive trick…but perhaps not as impressive as dispensing with the coffee table altogether.

The highlights of the evening were definitely the sparser arrangements. One song was led by bongos and cajon, which gave the band room to breathe. Another clave led piece boasted shifting rhythms swirling around each other like heady incense. But the real gem was the percussive trio that played immediately after the break (and whilst we’re on the subject, do you really need a forty minute break when the whole gig’s over by ten thirty, boys?). It’s a rock truism that the drum solo is always the most boring part of any concert, but tonight five minutes spent in the solo company of Cobham is more interesting than the whole first half put together, and when he’s joined by percussionist and bassist for another improvised rhythmic gumbo the stakes are raised again. When the rest of Asere file on once more, the soundfield seems clogged and stodgy, and it’s something of an anti-climax, despite some charming vocals.

Ultimately, Cobham and Asere make a good Cuban band. No complaints about good bands of course, but it’s not nearly as exciting as it should be; there are moments in the gig where a truly exciting dialogue promises to occur, only to be swept away the all-levelling party rhythms of the pieces. A perfectly enjoyable gig, then, but what we’d really like to do is get Cobham down at the Port Mahon with a couple of mates, and just tell him to play whatever came into his head for a few hours, then we’d see something truly exciting. But he’d probably have to bring a slightly smaller kit or there’d be no room for an audience…