I was a jazz funk enthusiast from 1970 when I heard the first album by Weather Report, I Sing the Body Electric, an album and music of promise. Billy came on the scene in a significant way, playing with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, with John Mc Laughlin and Carlos Santana, whom I saw live at the Avery Fisher Hall, some time after my arrival in NY. Billy then graduated to an eponymous first album, Spectrum, which launched his career in a significant way, taking it to Billboard’s Top 20, followed by Crosswinds and his landmark album that indicated he was forging his own compositional direction, Total Eclipse. This album marked Billy’s individuation in extending his compositional ability within a broad context of orchestration. He later confirmed this to me in an interview where he admitted spending some time with French composer Boulanger in France. This album is revelatory, epic, transcendent. It welds all the diverse parts together, the multiple voicing peculiar to Jazz, the big band brass interweaving common in Afro-Latin music, the jazz funk rhythmic and heady pulsation. I don’t recall whether this album reached Billboard’s Top 20 as Spectrum did, but it certainly expressed complexity and tradition. All the intimate worlds of musical experience came together harmoniously, structurally, and dazzlingly beautiful.
Spectrum and Crosswinds were the first Cobham albums I owned - back in the mid-70s - but this one took me a long time to find. It is now my favourite, but only because it builds on those previous two records. Total Eclipse certainly feels more freewheeling in terms of structure than Spectrum or Crosswinds, but is in no way loose. Some of this stuff reminds me of Frank Zappa at his most inspirational, but with added funk power of course, in that it sounds more improvisational than it actually is. Have a listen to Man-Child from Herbie Hancock and Tale Spinnin' from Weather Report for a couple of other lesser-known albums that, in my opinion at least, are really much better than they have a right to be.
Now you understand why Billy Cobham is regarded as one of the greats. Those runs and fills broke new ground at that time and are still way out there. Excellent album.
![Billy Cobham Life & Time 1976 (A side) [full vinyl album]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/81-JFh_uSd0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Billy Cobham Life & Time 1976 (A side) [full vinyl album]](/img/tr.png)
Billy has always been my teacher thru recorded music.....still learning from him....
I was a jazz funk enthusiast from 1970 when I heard the first album by Weather Report, I Sing the Body Electric, an album and music of promise. Billy came on the scene in a significant way, playing with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, with John Mc Laughlin and Carlos Santana, whom I saw live at the Avery Fisher Hall, some time after my arrival in NY. Billy then graduated to an eponymous first album, Spectrum, which launched his career in a significant way, taking it to Billboard’s Top 20, followed by Crosswinds and his landmark album that indicated he was forging his own compositional direction, Total Eclipse. This album marked Billy’s individuation in extending his compositional ability within a broad context of orchestration. He later confirmed this to me in an interview where he admitted spending some time with French composer Boulanger in France. This album is revelatory, epic, transcendent. It welds all the diverse parts together, the multiple voicing peculiar to Jazz, the big band brass interweaving common in Afro-Latin music, the jazz funk rhythmic and heady pulsation. I don’t recall whether this album reached Billboard’s Top 20 as Spectrum did, but it certainly expressed complexity and tradition. All the intimate worlds of musical experience came together harmoniously, structurally, and dazzlingly beautiful.
Thanks so much for this wonderful comment! Best wishes from Italian Switzerland. Luca
Spectrum and Crosswinds were the first Cobham albums I owned - back in the mid-70s - but this one took me a long time to find. It is now my favourite, but only because it builds on those previous two records. Total Eclipse certainly feels more freewheeling in terms of structure than Spectrum or Crosswinds, but is in no way loose. Some of this stuff reminds me of Frank Zappa at his most inspirational, but with added funk power of course, in that it sounds more improvisational than it actually is. Have a listen to Man-Child from Herbie Hancock and Tale Spinnin' from Weather Report for a couple of other lesser-known albums that, in my opinion at least, are really much better than they have a right to be.
Now you understand why Billy Cobham is regarded as one of the greats. Those runs and fills broke new ground at that time and are still way out there. Excellent album.
Sounds great thanks for posting!
nice ,
Okay....