Billy Cobham at WOMAD

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2007 WOMAD edition in Adelaide/Australia and New Plymouth/New Zealand will see Billy Cobham as Musical Director for the stage gala performances 2006 and 2007 have offered the Panamanian percussionist the opportunity to implement his musical ideas as well at festivals: he has just completed work in collaboration with Danilo Perez at Panama Jazz as well as fulfilling commitments to WOMAD this coming March. Extremely active, Billy is going on travelling the whole world, seeking new experiences by being involved in many diverse projects. Aside from his commitment to WOMAD Billy has recorded two important CD's: Drum'n'Voice 2 and Meeting of the Spirits.

Meeting of the Spirits is a unique arrangement of the compositions of John McLaughlin as were performed by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Arranged for orchestra by Colin Townes, the strong contrast between one of the fusion bands oriented of all time and the Jazz orchestra perfectly matches Billy Cobham and Colin Townes in collaborationwith the HR Big Band when this project was recorded and mixed from two performances at HR Radio (Frankfurt) and for Saarland Radio (Saarbrucken). Arrangements were both musically demanding yet rewarding to all who took part in the performances.

On the other side Drum'n'Voice 2 is Billy's second experience with the Italian label Nicolosi Productions where Billy is performs with some old friends and colleagues from the 1970's when musicians first experimented with jazz-rock 'fusion' (this involves the combining of jazz musical concepts with rock and roll rhythms. Here, there is proof in the grooves, that those years still can be inspirational. Inside is a combiination of pop, electric jazz, funky, blues, smooth and world music styles. we can hear Billy perfom in these musical contexts with Brian Auger (Hammond organ), Buddy Miles (vocal), Frank Gambale (el.guit.), Mike Lindup (vocal), Dominic Miller (guitars), Jeff Berlin (el.bass), Guy Barrer (flugelhorn), John Patitucci (el.bass), Airto Moreira (perc.), Novecento (band) and Jan Hammer (synth. 30 years after Spectrum),

Last but not least, there is this new experience for Billy Cobham: a 90 minute film by Mika Kaurismäki, Sonic Mirror, a musical documentary film on Billy Cobham, presenting his journey into several different musical cultures. This movie travelg opens in Switzerland before making brief stops in New York, Salvador da Bahia and Helsinki/Finland. It is scheduled to be presented at Festival Internacional de Cine, Nyon April 2007.

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