Jazz Record : Billy Cobham – Spectrum

Billy wastes no time getting into this recording. This is exactly what I was wanting. Cobham and his band are cooking right off the top with ‘Quadrant 4’ (Linked below) Jan Hammer on keyboards, Lee Sklar on bass and Tommy Bolin laying down some very good guitar licks . Jan and Tommy especially wig out. This is the kind of Jazz and music I was eating up at the time. Still sounds good to my ears. Not light easy music.

I was and am a big fan of Mahavishnu Orchestra, my first exposure to BC. A friends older brother (Dave the roadie) pushed me towards Cobham’s solo records. This was the second one I got into (Crosswinds was the first). I always dug drummers and drum solos, Baker, Palmer, Bruford so getting into Cobham was a no brainer. The guy is fantastic.

I’ll remind you of all the similar music I was listening to, Mahavishnu, Return To Forever, Larry Coryell, Zappa. King Crimson, Yes. I especially liked it when they let loose and ripped some loud aggressive noise. Billy does it on this record. Jan Hammer and Tommy Bolin picked up on that vibe and they both do some really good work.

This was my first time hearing Tommy Bolin. He went onto the James Gang, Deep Purple and solo records but this is where I found him and it’s where I enjoyed him the most.

I got this record to hear Billy bang away and he does. But he also brings some very good people along to help make some very good music. Lots of musical ideas here.

You want a good feel for some electric jazz, fusion, progressive rock, ‘Status’ would be a good one to listen to. The original has a 3 minute spacey lead in but I give you the shorter version below. It kicks into another gear and takes off into a very hard jazz/rock, funk groove with Billy and Lee (Groove city) laying it down and Tommy and Jan filling in with some great work. I love this tune. They all kill it on this one. Listen to BC’s work on this. Is it me or is that not killer? If you like Jeff Beck’s ‘Blow By Blow’ I think this will fit the bill. I still get jacked when I hear this song and this album. A young CB was getting his mind blown with this stuff. I know there’s a few of you Deep Purple guys and gals out there. Check out Bolin on this early work. You won’t be disappointed.

Cobham spent a lot of years with John Mac so he must have got a charge out of a young Tommy Bolin laying down some great hard licks. I love it. Jan (Billy’s old Mahavishnu band mate) doing the same thing on keys. Lee Sklar just grooves on this with Billy doing what he does best. I could listen to a jam on this for hours. Not a lot of traditional type jazz tunes on here but a few with a different lineup that work well

‘Red Baron’ is the last cut. Not as bombastic as ‘Stratus’ but still lays down a solid groove. Cobham doesn’t steal the show. He lets the other musicians do their thing. Good way to end the album. Just left me wanting more of these guys.

This is the kind of jazz that got me started in that genre. It sent me to the older stuff later on.. It might be  hard on traditionalists but it is still jazz played by good musicians and I really like it. I might have come at it from an opposite direction but I still got it all.

(A great homage to the ‘Stratus’ cut by Govt Mule and John Scofield. A live 17 minute jam if you got the guts? CB thinks he’s a tough guy))