Friday 2 June 2017

Cobham. Billy - Crosswinds (1974)


The second album from this US drummer.

Billy Cobham got help from seven other musicians on this album. That includes the Brecker brothers, George Duke and John Abercrombie. Those are the ones I know from before... I am still not fully dialed into jazz.

The lineup is woodwinds, guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and percussions.

Crosswinds is the impossible follow up to Spectrum, one of the more classic and masterpieces in the fusion genres. How do you follow up Spectrum ? Well, you try your best by doing what you do best. You follow your heart too.
The Spectrum personell was changed around and new musicians entered the fray.

I am not a big expert on jazz, being a recent convert (OK... less than ten years). I just write about it after some listening sessions. But.......

Crosswinds sounds a bit more laidback than Spectrum. It is also more close to jazz than fusion. There is a lot of really good stuff here. The Brecker brothers are going for it on woodwinds and is the dominant voices here. Billy Cobham is also great on drums. The guitars are also very good. Ditto for the percussions.

The quality of the songs are good without really enthusing me. This is no Spectrum # 2. But it is still a good album from some great musicians.

3 points  




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