To
Release Two Live Albums
From 1992 Tokyo Concert
For Immediate Release
Courtesy
of Glass Onyon PR
Los Angeles, CA – Much to the excitement of drummers
and jazz aficionados worldwide, drum legend Billy Cobham will be releasing two
live albums on Cleopatra Records. The first is 'Mirror's Image' on February 17
(CD & VINYL), follwed by 'Reflected Journey' on April 28 (CD). The albums
are 2 parts of the same show recorded in Tokyo on February 15, 1992.
What an amazing career Billy Cobham has had. From his
auspicious start in the late '60s touring and recording with the great Miles
Davis to his groundbreaking work with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu
Orchestra in the early '70s, Cobham built a reputation for complex and soulful
drumming. But it wasn't until 1973 and the release of his first solo album
'Spectrum' that he took the title of jazz fusion's preeminent drummer with a
style and technique all his own, one that has been a major influence on
drummers worldwide ever since.
A stream of further albums would follow, both under
his own name and in partnership with a host of allies. And each one pushed
towards fresh frontiers as Cobham marched on through the 1970s and 1980s. He
played with Jack Bruce, Mark-Almond, a revived Mahavishnu, Bob Weir and the Grateful
Dead, and was even behind a Dead tribute band; Jazz is Dead, realigning the
sound of the Dead for a whole new audience. Cobham's own band, Glass Menagerie,
cut two truly luminous albums, and as a new decade, the 1990s, dawned, the
drummer was as busy as he had ever been.
In 1992, working under the auspices of UNICEF, Cobham
set out for Brazil, where he would be working with autistic outpatients and
street children in Santos, a suburb of Sao Paulo. “The street children fell
into my realm of operations almost by chance, as it was not part of my original
mandate,” he explained. “But due to the unavoidable specter and shadow cast by
so many little personalities with big hearts and so much time to ponder life
without parental direction, it was inevitable that I would find myself working
with them… some of the brightest minds harboring raw talent that I have ever
witnessed to date. The shame of it all was that many would never have the
opportunity to use their gift.”
A new project came into being, a band in which the
voices and talents of the street children would be harnessed alongside the
talents of Cobham's latest combo, the visionary trio that he put together with
the then all-but unknown Ira Coleman on double bass; and Australian Joe
Chindamo on piano. This was the grouping captured together on 1993's
so-acclaimed 'Traveler' album. But another song informed by the Brazilian
sojourn, “Street Urchin,” found its way onto 1992's 'By Design', and it was
with that album fresh on the shelves that the trio set out on tour.
February 1992 saw Cobham, Coleman and Chindamo arrive
in Japan, and it was there, in Tokyo on February 15, that they performed the
breathtaking show from which these two albums have been drawn. Japanese
audiences, says Cobham, are among his favorite in the world, and the feeling
was clearly mutual. The audience's enthusiasm never lapses, and he rewarded
them with a selection of songs that traveled back across his entire career -
“Crescent Sun,” reaching all the way back to 1974's sophomore effort, 'Total
Eclipse'; “Shabazz,” from the 1975 album of the same name.
The evening also looked towards the future -
“Reflected Journey,” a magnificent piece that would later title one of
Chindamo’s own solo albums; “Prime Time,” “Key Jane”…. And all of them reworked
and rearranged for the demands of the night, and the skills of the three pieces.
On record, Cobham habitually introduced fresh players,
fresh instrumentation, and allowed their interpretations to flavor the
individual compositions. In concert, whole new rearrangements were called for,
and it was a mark of the talents with which he surrounded himself that every
fresh revision felt somehow definitive; every one opened new doors through
which the improvisations could stroll. Tonight in Tokyo, those doors were open
as wide as they have ever been.
Cobham remembers the night, hot and tight before one
of his favorite audiences in the world. His latest album, 'By Design', was
still fresh on the shelves and of course it would dominate the show, the epic
“Mirror's Image,” the raucous “Street Urchin” and the playful “Kinky Dee”
taking off from the CD for fresh destinations unknown. On record, Ernie Watts'
sax was an integral part of the show; on stage, the trio moved in fresh
directions and the music soared accordingly.
MIRROR'S IMAGE
1. Mirror's Image
2. Street Urchin
3. Kinky Dee
4. Leeward Winds
5. Mirror Crack'd [CD ONLY]
6. Layed Back Lifestyle [CD ONLY]
To purchase
Mirror's Image on CD:
To purchase Mirror's Image on vinyl:
To download
Mirror's Image on iTunes:
REFLECTED
JOURNEY
1. Prime Time
2. Key Jane
3. Reflected Journey
4. Crescent Sun
5. Shabazz
6. Improvisation
Billy Cobham's
official website:
Press
inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
PH: 828-350-8158
E-Mail: glassonyonpr@gmail.com
CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA
90025
