The great Billy Cobham is currently playing at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Frith Street this week. Billy Cobham uses Porter & Davies BC2 which generates physical sound through bone amplification. As Porter & Davies photographer I went up to Ronnie’s with Dil Davies and Jerome Marcus to get some photos of Mr Cobham with the BC2.
Billy Cobham at Ronnie Scott's holding the BC2
This was a real trip down memory lane for me. For years I was a member of Ronnie Scott’s and used to be a regular when I lived in London. Ronnie’s is the place to be if you love decent jazz music and over the years I have been lucky enough to catch some of jazz’s greatest musicians in action, up close, at this intimate and very fashionable jazz club. Yesterday was no exception, I was in the company of great musician and a lovely man. Billy Cobham is roundly recognized as one of the greatest jazz drummers who has entertained generations with numerous albums and many exciting collaborations. I was lucky enough to be added to Mr Cobham’s guest list last night and it was a pleasure to see the great man in action. His style is amazing and laced with subtlety. Beautiful compositions intertwine with the sublime tonal qualities of his drumming and ambidextrous rolls that take the breath away. I have been listening to his music for years and this was the first time I have seen Mr Cobham live. The tour is called the Palindrome Tour and Billy Cobham is appearing at Ronnie Scott’s until Saturday night.
Porter & Davies are very excited to have their products endorsed by Billy Cobham. Often the perception of their products is that they are designed with rock drummers playing live stadiums in mind, but the BC2 and Gigster are not just for making the drums louder for the drummer, they also enable the drummer to feel the differences in tone, pressure and nuance. Enabling the slightest differences in pressure to be physically experienced through bone amplification. The BC2 is a combination of seat and amp which give the drummer total control, enabling drummers to not just hear themselves properly during live gigs but also feel the subtle complexities of their playing.
Whilst at Ronnie Scott’s I also met David Sinclair who has been taking photos at Ronnie Scott’s for years and is an amazing photographer. His website www.jazzphotographs.com is definitely worth visiting if you love jazz music and contains some amazing galleries of work. Respect is most definitely due…
Thanks to Porter & Davies again and to Jerome Marcus for the job and also the opportunity to revisit Ronnie’s and meet Billy Cobham. Thanks to Billy Cobham for being so generous with his time, for being such a gentleman and for adding us to his guest list. Thanks also to Ronnie Scott’s and staff for being so helpful and for turning the shoot into a great night out…
To see the complete gallery of photos of Billy Cobham at Ronnie Scott’s for Porter & Davies please take a look at the Corporate Galleries page: www.blog.demuthphoto.com/corporate
