Billy Cobham

“My passion in continuing Quiet Riot has everything to do with the fact that drumming is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Quiet Riot’s Frankie Banali told Modern Drummer in a 2015 interview. “I worked very hard and struggled a lot to get to the point that we did with …

Hi MD Readers! I’ve never been much of a self-promoter, as it’s always felt a bit self-serving. Having said that, I’m so thrilled to be doing this for MD (my favorite magazine for decades), so I’m going to make the exception and offer up some of my credits.

At Journey’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, drummer Steve Smith took the opportunity to, as we say, give the drummers some.

Drumming legend and jazz fusion pioneer Billy Cobham will bring his highly acclaimed Art of the Rhythm Section Retreat back to the Mesa Arts Center for its second year, offering an immersive educational program for drummers, bassists, guitarists, and keyboard players.

On Nathan East’s second solo album, Reverence, he once again steps into the spotlight as bandleader. Produced by East and Yamaha Entertainment Group of America founder Chris Gero, it’s no surprise that shortly after its debut (less than one month ago), the album hit the number-one spot on both the …

In a week that was already rocked by the deaths of Can’s Jaki Liebezeit and Spooky Tooth’s Mike Kellie, the drum world was shaken for a third time by news this morning of the passing of founding Allman Brothers Band sticksman Butch Trucks.

Alphonse Mouzon was among the premier drummers associated with the jazz-rock fusion movement of the 1970s. The genre was largely inspired by jazz iconoclast Miles Davis, and was furthered by many of the instrumentalists associated with the trumpeter’s groundbreaking late-’60s albums such as Miles in the Sky and In a …

Alphonse Mouzon came to prominence in the ’70s as one of the top drummers on the burgeoning fusion scene, playing with premier acts like Weather Report and Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House.

Hi there MD readers, Corky here. As some of you may know, I have been a professional drummer for half a century. You might remember me from such bands as Mountain and West, Bruce and Laing.

With Juniper, instrumental and percussion-heavy trio Square Peg Round Hole unleashes pondering melodies, brooding harmonic landscapes, and forward-thinking rhythms. Here, the group’s main drummer, Evan Chapman, discusses the concepts and influences behind the record’s broad sonic spectrum….

One of the world’s all-time greatest drummers will offer a live master class webcast devoted to the “Art of the Rhythm Section.”

Hey MD, I’m a drummer/lead singer in a live scenario and in an animal spirit sense. I wear the Justin Bieber headset and I also trigger samples on my Roland SPD-SX drum sampler. People know me as Shmu, the solo artist, as well as the drummer, singer, and songwriter in …

Steve Gadd is regarded as one the most influential drummers in contemporary music and is one of the most sought-after studio musicians in the world. This month, Gadd brings together a band of stellar musicians for a three night run at London’s Ronnie Scott’s. Joining him are Larry Goldings on …

Over the course of his forty-year career traveling the globe to teach, perform, and conduct clinics, Dom Famularo has interacted with some of the finest drummers and drum instructors in the world. The following list contains many of those names, organized by country/continent. If you’re looking for top-notch drum instruction, …

See what’s in the October issue of Modern Drummer magazine featuring Ilan Rubin!

Wobeonfest returns to Ironwood Hall in downtown Austin this September, marking the third year of the homegrown festival with a global reach. This year, the festival organizers have added a Jazz Fusion Festival to the two-day gathering, which will feature a rare US performance by drum legend Billy Cobham (of …

Sweetwater, a top online retailer of music instruments and audio equipment in the US, is presenting GearFest 2015 on Friday, June 12, from 9 am to 6 pm, and Saturday, June 13, from 9 am to 5 pm, at the Sweetwater campus located at 5501 US Hwy 30 W in …

Omar Hakim has released a video for the track “Walk the Walk??? from his recent solo album, We Are One.

With tickets to his sold out shows in such high demand, Ronnie Scott’s has announced that it will be streaming drum legend Billy Cobham’s full performance on Friday, February 27 at 11:15 pm BST….

Hi, Modern Drummer readers! This is Andre “Dre Energy??? Boyd. I’ve been on tour with Cirque du Soleil and playing cities like Zurich, Florence, Rome, Paris, Lisbon, Tenerife, and many more….

I have been the drummer for Cannibal and the Headhunters for forty-six years now. For those who don’t know the group you might know the song “Land of a 1000 Dances.???

What is the rhythmic essence of progressive music? What makes prog so different from other genres? Does it require a specific skill set on the drumkit, or does the nature of the music make it open to interpretation? MD posed these and other questions to the drummers in Spock’s Beard, …

Hi there, Modern Drummer readers, it’s Gabor ‘Gabs’ Dornyei here from London, UK, and it’s great to be given the opportunity by MD to share some insights of my career with you….

Drummer Bill Stevenson is among the most influential musicians associated with West Coast punk rock, on any instrument. After making his name with seminal hard-core band Black Flag in the ’80s, Stevenson proceeded to set a standard for punk drumming with the Descendants and All, later spreading his reputation even …

The Philly Drum Project recently moved its monthly “Beats, Brews, & Banter??? drum hang from the RBar to Boot & Saddle on 1131 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The next meeting takes place tonight, August 4th, at 7 pm and will feature free jazz and fusion drummer G. Calvin …

Legendary drummer Billy Cobham is conducting an immersive learning program for experienced instrumentalists and band members….

See what’s in the May 2014 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine featuring drummer Jim Riley…

Going back—but not too far—for some classic Cobhamisms.

Guitar Center’s Drum-Off launches its 25th annual search for the next great undiscovered drummer.

We asked the members of the MD Education Team to share their thoughts on how they prefer to tune their drums. Here’s what they had to say….

For the seventh consecutive year, Drum Fantasy Camp will allow drummers of all ages, playing levels, and musical genres to spend time in small classes with some of the world’s great drummers. This year’s camp will be held August 8 through 12 at the Hyatt Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio….

Click here to check out what the MD Education Team members have to say about setting up your drumset for maximum results….

ArtistWorks, a leading provider of interactive online music lessons, has teamed up with Modern Drummer to present a live-streaming workshop with master drummer and ArtistWorks online teaching artist Billy Cobham….

View the Billy Cobham “40 Years of Spectrum??? live-streaming event right here on March 16 at 9 am Pacific Standard Time….

The February 2013 issue of Modern Drummer magazine features renowned bassist Mark Egan sharing some of the lessons he’s learned from working with drumming royalty. Here he focuses the discussion on the unique qualities and skills each of these players brings to the table….

LAMA College for Music Professionals has announced details for its upcoming drum recording workshop on February 2, 2013.

Growing up in the ’80s, one was forced to pound the pavement and hit up older record heads for information on obscure and creative bands.

Is traditional grip a useful technique that drum students should learn? We asked the members of the MD Education Team if they think traditional grip is relevant in today’s teachings. Here’s what they had to say.

ArtistWorks opens their Online Bass Campus. Bass players Nathan East, John Patitucci and Missy Raines break down their entire approach on HD video — in order — from the fundamentals to the extremely advanced….

Ray Lucas is one of the unsung heroes of American music. An early accomplice of Jimi Hendrix, Lucas spent long hours jamming and performing on stage with the future guitar god. He also backed many of the top R&B and soul artists of the ’60s and ’70s, including Aretha Franklin, …

Hey guys, this is Matt Covey of Shai Hulud, the Suicide Dolls, and the Flaming Tsunamis. And the Hempsteadys. And the Franklin Brothers…and Young Pandas. About three and a half years ago, I was shocked to find myself on the road playing drums for a truly pioneering band….

In this video Luis Conte and Thomas Lang demonstrate and discuss playing a 6/8 feel.

The Grammy Award-winning master percussionist debuts an interactive, bilingual online music school.

The upcoming issue of Modern Drummer contains an Influences feature on fusion pioneer Billy Cobham. Here’s an encore review of a fantastic album on which Billy reprised his role in the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra.

I’m Tim Walsh of the Stepkids, and I’m excited to be on here and hope to add to the wealth of knowledge that is MD’s awesome thirty-five-year history…

This is an excerpt of an article that originally ran in the December1986 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

Hello, fellow drummers! My name is Shaun Foist, and I’ve been playing drums for nineteen years. I got started at around age ten, when my father showed me how to play…

Drumming news for the month of November complied in one place.

Things have changed so much in the past ten years—in general, and for me personally, in the way I interface with the music industry. I feel like those ten years have progressed in a very different and far more varied way than the ten years that passed before them.

MD Online recently spoke to Jack about the process of making his new EP, including the making of the video for the track “Outer Space Dream.???

Hey, everyone! This is Chris “Gartdrumm??? Gartmann from the band 3. I’m very excited to be blogging to you from the MD home page and also very much pumped about our new record, The Ghost You Gave to Me. Simply put, it’s our best yet!

Hi, fellow modern drummers! Life has been incredibly busy in Nashville lately, so I’ll try to give a short version of what’s going on in the “hamster wheel.???

Mark Schulman has been touring with Foreigner all summer and is also on the band’s three-disc set Feels Like the First Time, containing two audio CDs and a live concert DVD. For more, visit www.foreigneronline.com. Also check out Mark’s article “Easy Drum Charts” in the October issue of MD, out …

Guitar Center has announced the launch of the 23rd annual Guitar Center’s Drum-Off the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer.

Hello! Ahh…drums! How else can you smash heads with a stick and not go to jail? I started playing at about fourteen years old, when my dad got me my first drumkit. It was a Groove Percussion kit, and I really beat the thing to a pulp…

I play in Sleeper Agent. Our music is fast-paced and energetic punk-infused pop rock. We’ve been together for about three years now. Our sound is heavily influenced by Jay Reatard, the Strokes, the Beatles, and many others…

Welcome once again to the MD Readers Poll, where the greatest drummers on the planet are honored by the most educated drum fans around. Let’s get right to it: the envelope, please….

Modern Drummer’s 2011 Readers Poll Hall of Fame inductee is the late drummer/educator Jim Chapin, who passed away in 2009.

I play guitar and sing in Kill Kurt Reifler, a two-piece rock ’n’ roll circus of sorts. I write songs as a drummer (which is the instrument I really play) and translate the rhythms I hear in my head to the fret board. All of our sound is focused on …

by Bob GirouardIt seems that since Danny Seraphine made a comeback of sorts of the 2006 Modern Drummer Festival, he’s kicked the current phase of his drumming career into high gear, appearing at events like Drummers for Jesus, the 2009 Chicago Drum Show, and a Terry Kath tribute, and making …

I’m Jason Ganberg of the British rock band Purple Melon. Just dropping you guys a few lines about what I’ve been up to out in L.A. and how everything has developed for me since I started drumming back in England fifteen years ago!…

Hey, MD readers! It’s your boy Gorden Campbell, and I’m back once again to give you an update on my travels around the globe! This has been a busy year for me. From the George Duke and American Idol tours, to recording my first instructional DVD, I’ve had a great …

Aye, MD faithful readers! My name is Tosin Aribisala. It is an honor for me to write a blog for this awesome drummers’ magazine. I have been an ardent reader and subscriber to Modern Drummer for over eleven of my twenty-three years playing the drumset….

by Billy Amendola More—way more—with the fusion and pop maestro. In a continuation of our interview with Narada Michael Walden from the November 2010 issue of Modern Drummer, the fusion and pop drumming/producing maestro reflects on his early days, teaching, spirituality, playing in odd time signatures, and coming full circle …

Hey, what’s up, MD world! What a great honor to be here today! My name is Andrea Vadrucci (aka Vadrum), from Italy. Some of you might know me for my drumming videos on YouTube—the Super Mario Bros. theme, and classical-music drum arrangements. I would like to take this opportunity to …

Billy Cobham is a living legend of the drumset, revered for his ultra-dramatic, muscular, and bar-raising work with fusion pioneers the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Greetings, drummers and percussionists around the world! First I would like to send love and blessings to you all, wherever you may be. I am deeply honored to be writing this blog for Modern Drummer. My name is Ricc Sheridan, and I’m the drummer/percussionist for Earl Greyhound. We are about …

Dennis Chambers was born on May 9, 1959, and started playing the drums at the young age of four. By his sixth birthday he was already playing in nightclubs. Strictly self-taught, at the age of eighteen Dennis went straight from high school to playing with George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, where …

Growing up with musician parents, I was fortunate to be exposed to a wide variety of music, from classic rock and metal to jazz-fusion, quite early in my life. At age twelve I began watching videos of my favorite bands and teaching myself the drums and guitar, trying to emulate …

In celebration of the great, sometimes groundbreaking drumming performances of TV’s golden age, we present to you highlights along the illustrious Drumming On TV timeline…

The venerable drum teacher passed away this July 4, leaving behind thousands of acolytes–and a million great stories. In this companion to the In Memoriam in the October issue of MD, we hear from some of Chapin’s many friends and drumming disciples.

Talking with Perkins, you get the vibe that the L.A.–based rocker’s life is way more than hitting the skins for the duration of a show or recording session….

My name is Stephen Nicholson. I grew up in the city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I became interested in drumming around the age of nine….

I am currently the drummer and backup vocalist for The English Beat in America.

The March issue of MD (out now) features Billy Ward’s fascinating conversation with Simon Phillips, Doane Perry, Marco Minnemann, Thomas Lang, and Jerry Marotta about the grooves that inspired them to play drums early on, and that continue to today. It seemed to make perfect sense for MD’s editors to …

My name is Hawk Lopez and I’ve been with Crown Of Thorns since 1994, when I was recommended to Jean Beauvoir by Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo….

My name is Hawk Lopez and I’ve been with Crown Of Thorns since 1994, when I was recommended to Jean Beauvoir by Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo….

Twenty-four year old Thomas Pridgen unleashes the most rabid drumming in recent memory on The Mars Volta’s The Bedlam In Goliath. Of course, the band’s fans have come to expect madness and mastery from the innovative Long Beach, California group…

The resurgence of progressive rock has opened the door for younger drummers to rediscover the more technically challenging aspects of this classic art rock culture….

Recording Life In Surveillance was a great opportunity to play more of what I enjoy as an artist and drummer. Matt has such great ideas, and my drum selection this time around was just outrageous….

I've had the opportunity to play on everything from demos to jingles to complete albums, working with artists from around the world, right out of my own studio….

Not many people get to do exactly what they love and get paid for it – much less with two of the biggest artists in the world. Mickey Curry toured and recorded with Hall & Oates at the peak of their career, laying down a solid backbeat with perfect feel …

Not many drummers dictated the sound of the 80’s like Tony Thompson. That big, huge drum sound was everywhere: on classic recordings like Power Station’s “Some Like It Hot,” David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” Robert Palmer’s “Addicted To Love,” the list goes on.

Damien Fahey has a dilemma: These days he’s having a difficult time finding the time to play his drums. You see, Damien hosts one of MTV’s most popular shows, Total Request Live, which airs weekdays at 5:00 P.M. EST to an audience of 50 million viewers.

In between those gigs he’ll squeeze in a performance with Ricky Martin, Stevie Nicks, or Jennifer Lopez, among other top acts. But Danny’s brain is always thinking: How do I make my playing better? Equally important to him these days: How do I make the instruments I play better? Enter …

For Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor, playing in a band named after a huge prehistoric beast makes perfect sense. “When I’m performing or writing,” Dailor says, “I sometimes think, That definitely sounds like a Mastodon part.”

John Blackwell always listened to his dad’s advice, and it’s paid off, big time. “Growing up, my dad used to tell me, ‘If you want to make any money in this business, play in the pocket.'”…

“He’s a bad boy, that’s for sure,” says guitar star John Scofield of his talented young sideman Adam Deitch. On the Sco gig, Deitch comes across like a composite of two great drummers that the guitarist has worked with before’the original funky drummer himself, Clyde Stubblefield, and highly regarded jazz …

At a 1999 Birdland performance with The Dave Holland Quintet, Billy Kilson led band and audience in a rousing chorus of drum worship. Holland, one of jazz’s most celebrated bassists and composers, has played with all the innovators, from Tony and Elvin to Jack DeJohnette and Billy Higgins. So you …