Search - Billy Cobham - Culturemix: New Morning Paris Concert on DVD

Billy - great as ever

D. Brown | Oak Grove, Mo USA | 07/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Right from the top let me say that I agree completely with the other reviews here - this is a very good concert, good quality dvd and I am glad to have it in my collection. Now saying that let me mention 2 points that to me distract a bit from the show and that I would have liked to have known about before I purchased mine. First there is a extra percussion player in the band who plays steel pan(as listed on the dvd) or steel drum as I think of it...to my ears the steel drum sound is very out of place here and does not always mesh well with the other instruments...on first listen to the dvd this really stood out to me as a bad idea... on other listens since then it does not seem as bad.. still I could have done without it... there is probably steel drum playing on a little less than 1/2 of the songs...The other odd thing here is that the bass,keyboard and guitar players all have music stands in front of them and most of the time are very intently reading the music as they play.. they do come to points in the music score where they must be told "time to improvise" and they all stretch out a bit... this playing from sheet music gives the show a somewhat less than spontaneous feel...as the concert goes along the interplay of the band gets more relaxed however it is odd to see Jazz played from sheet music like this...It helps me to just play the dvd and listen to the music and not watch the screen..the music then speaks for it's self and sounds real nice...I would not let these 2 things stop you from buying this dvd - just want to make folks aware of them..."

Billy's Smokin' Again!

Denver Guy | Denver, CO | 05/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the 3rd Cobham concert DVD that I have bought. Each one is better than the last. I love it. The audio and video are great. The presentation looks very cool. Billy is playing with a MUCH smaller kit here. But, in case you didn't know it, this guy knows how to play the drums. The music sounds fresh and the playing is flawless. The keyboardist looks like he's 15, but does a great job. They are all very good. Billy, of course, is phenomenal! Fast, furious, and dazzling as usual. You won't be disappointed with this LONG concert disk."

Fusion is not dead!

John Thomas | Ossining, NY USA | 07/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a cobham fan and drummer then you should love this DVD. I have many of Billys' LP's and CD's but this is the first DVD and watching him is even better than listening. One of the reasons I think that Billy sounds so good and blends so well with the music is his feel and emotion he puts into it. Just watch the expressions on his face. Some drummers are great technicians but lack emotion, Cobham posesses both.We can also see why Billy's nickname is "Boomer". He has the unique tallent of getting incredible sound out of his kit the way he strikes the drums, and those cymbal crashes, he stings them! All the musicians are excellent and I especially like Peter Gade. He combines great sound with passion in his playing that reminds you of how fusion guitar is suposed to sound, not like that played out Metheney sound. Some great new interpretations of Stratus, Crosswinds and Red Barron. Camera work and sound quality seem excellent to me. This DVD is very enjoyable, you will probably like me watch it several times."

A Good Concert DVD

Mark A. Wellman | Plaucheville, LA United States | 06/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really like this DVD. The sound quality and the visual quality are both very good. Billy's band is very talented. They play some Cobham standards and also some new material. This DVD is better than the Cannes DVD, mostly because of the better sound quality."