WOMAD

Billy Cobham & Asere

17:00 25th July on the Open Air Stage

Cracking Cuban-American collaboration. Don't tell George Bush

What was a semi-casual introduction at this very festival has led, six years later, to a firm, ongoing collaboration spanning continents and generations. New York drumming man mountain Billy Cobham has always kept an inquisitive ear out for new sounds and new musical experiences, so he jumped at the opportunity of working with Cuban youngbloods Asere. Despite Billy being largely regarded as a jazz drummer (thanks to stints as sticksman to Miles Davis, Horace Silver and Dexter Gordon), he and Asere bonded in a very unforced manner, able to communicate musically without anything getting lost in translation. It helped that there was a common ingredient - Cobham actually originally hails from Panama and counts an occasion playing timbales as his earliest memory, It was therefore fitting that he'd go on to play with the greatest timbales player ever - one Tito Puente. The six-year Cobham/Asere association just got cemented a little further with the release of their first record together, the wonderful De Cuba Y De Panama which, as the title more than suggests, traces the shared heritages of both places. When Billy Cobham and Asere take to the stage together, the world appears a slightly smaller, more fraternal place.

Biog by Nige Tassell

Bill Cobham Biography

It was in Panama that this most fluid of drummers was first bewitched by the sound of percussion. Born in the Central American country of Panama, his earliest memories include playing timbales and being surrounded by steel drum and conga-playing cousins. Growing up in New York, jazz rapidly became an obsession and, at 25, Billy joined Miles Davis' group early in a career that's known many peaks. Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Tito Puente, Dexter Gordon and our own Peter Gabriel are among those who've collaborated with him. The choice of his recent co-conspirators has seen him return to his Latin American roots - an ongoing project with Cuban young blades Asere.

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