Billy Cobham – Stratus

Billy Cobham – “Stratus” from the album “Spectrum”

Billy was born William Emanuel Cobham on 16 May 1944 in Panama. He moved to New York City with his family as a child, attended New York’s High School of Music and Art and graduated in 1962. He played in a U.S. Army Band between 1965 to 1968 and, following his discharge, joined an ensemble led by Horace Silver. He co-founded Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin in 1971.

He recorded Spectrum in May 1973, while still with Mahavishnu Orchestra,

Spectrum

1) Quadrant 4; 2) Searching for the Right Door/Spectrum; 3) Anxiety/Taurian Matador; 4) Stratus; 5) To the Women in My Life/Le Lis; 6) Snoopy’s Search/Red Baron

Billy Cobham - Spectrum

Personnel

Billy Cobham – drums and electronics; Tommy Bolin – guitar; Jan Hammer – electric piano, Moog synthesizer, acoustic piano; Lee Sklar – bass guitar; Joe Farrell – soprano and alto sax; Jimmy Owens – flugelhorn and trumpet; John Tropea – guitar; Ron Carter – acoustic bass; Ray Barretto – congas

Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mountain Flame


The Mahavishnu Orchestra – “You Know, You Know” from the album “The Inner Mountain Flame”
John McLaughlin was born on 4 January 1942 in Doncaster. He studied violin and piano as a child and took up the guitar at the age of 11.  He moved to London in the early 1960s and played with Alexis Korner, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, the Graham Bond Organisation and Brian Auger.

He moved to the US in 1969 to join Tony Williams’ group Lifetime and formed The Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971.
He played on the following Miles Davis albums; In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Live-Evil, On The Corner, Big Fun and A Tribute to Jack Johnson.
Jeff Beck called him “the best guitarist alive” and he gave guitar lessons to Jimmy Page.

The Inner Mountain Flame

1) Meeting Of The Spirits; 2) Dawn; 3) The Noonward Race; 4) A Lotus On Irish Streams; 5) Vital Transformation; 6) The Dance Of Maya; 7) You Know, You Know; 8) Awakening

The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mountain Flame

John McLaughlin – Guitar
Rick Laird – Bass
Billy Cobham – Drums, Percussion
Jan Hammer – Keyboards, Organ
Jerry Goodman – Violin