Billy Cobham
Visionary, innovator and one of the great percussive talents of our time, Billy Cobham was never one to make do with a small drum kit. He's been associated with many drum companies over the years and played a superb clear Fibes kit in the early 70's. If you haven't already heard it, check out his 1973 solo album Spectrum.
The following pictures show Cobham playing a blue Vistalite Octaplus kit at a rehearsal for the 1976 Downbeat awards at the PBS station in Chicago. The pictures include Stanley Clarke and Jean Luc Ponty - they performed a piece called "Lopsy Lu".
Dave Korey is a gentleman who hangs out at the DCI Forum. Dave writes:
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I saw Mr. Cobham last night at Club Iridium on Broadway & 51st. In a word "AWESOME"!
After the first set we spoke for a good 15 minutes about, Tempus drums, Sabian cymbals and a host of nostalgic stuff. He is a "world class" gentleman. I remember to ask him about the Vistalites.
RIDDIM was correct!!! He said "I only played Ludwig Vistalites ONCE". It was a TV shoot in Chicago and Bill Ludwig personally brought the kit to him that day. He said they were "straight outta 'da box". He said after they played the first song, the kit collapsed / imploded, screws fell out and Bill Ludwig was horrified. He added " If that hadn't happened, I would have been a Ludwig endorser"! We both had a chuckle over that. He signed a drum head for me, posed for pictures and answered all my questions very candidly. He actually came up to ME to see where I obtained the B.C. Spectrum tour shirt I was wearing. I will email him that info after this post. He said he never actually got one for himself. Go figure. The gig was the first of three for the night. It was one fast hour of a stellar performance.
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