We remember the late, great jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 91. Tuscia in Jazz Festival, Ronciglione, 2006, Mulgrew Miller, piano; Buster Williams, bass; and Jimmy Cobb on drums.
Legendary jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb, was born in Washington, D.C. on
January 20, 1929. A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy is the
elder statesman of all of the incredible Miles Davis bands. Jimmy's
inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co.
spanned 1957 until 1963, and included the masterpiece “Kind of Blue”,
the most popular jazz recording in history. He also played on “Sketches
of Spain”, Someday My Prince will Come”, “Live at Carnegie Hall, “Live
at the Blackhawk”, “Porgy and Bess”, and many, many other watermark
Miles Davis recordings.
The Miles recordings and live performances are not the only high points
of Jimmy's quiet, but truly outstanding career. Jimmy did his first
recording with Earl Bostic. Known from an early age as a great
accompanist, Jimmy played extensively with Dinah Washington, Billie
Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderly,
before joining Miles in 1957. Tony Williams took over the Miles drum
chair in 1963 and Jimmy left Miles to continue to work with Miles'
rhythm section, Winton Kelly and Paul Chambers behind Wes Montgomery. In
addition to several Winton Kelly Trio Albums, the three did albums with
Kenny Burrell, and J.J. Johnson, among others, before disbanding in the
late 60's. Mr. Cobb then worked with Sarah Vaughn for 9 years. Jimmy
then continued to freelance with several great groups throughout the
70's 80's and 90's including, Sonny Stitt, Nat Adderly, Ricky Ford, Hank
Jones, Ron Carter, George Coleman, Fathead Newman, The Great Jazz Trio,
Dave Holland and Warren Bernhardt, and many, many others worldwide.
(see list on succeeding pages). Eleana Tee produced a Television Special
“So that Nobody Else Can Hear”, which aired on AandE in the early 90's
featuring Jimmy playing and hangin' with Freddie Hubbard, Gregory Hines,
Bill Cosby, Dave Leibman, Pee Wee Ellis, and others. Jimmy has played
around the world from Newport to Monte Carlo, from LA to Japan. He has
performed for President Carter, the Shah of Iran and many other
dignitaries in his storied career and is quoted extensively in “Kind of
Blue”, the Documentary of those legendary recording sessions.
Video Courtesy:
Francesco Piccinini
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