This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2008)

Scott Yanow (born 4 October 1954) is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.^[1]

Biography[link]

Born in New York, Yanow grew up near Los Angeles wanting to be a jazz journalist, discovering Dixieland in the Danny Kaye movie The Five Pennies and on a daily radio show while in high school. He soon broadened his tastes to the swing idiom and in college, after purchasing a Charlie Parker album that included White Christmas (which made it easier for him to appreciate bebop), he soon developed a strong taste and musical curiosity for all eras of jazz, from dixieland to the avant-garde, Fusion to modern jazz.^[1]

Shortly after graduating from college, Yanow became the jazz editor for Record Review, being a major participant in all thirty three of its issues. Since Record Review closed in June 1984, Yanow has written for many jazz magazines and arts magazines including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Downbeat, Cadence, CODA and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene. In recent times, Yanow was interviewed on-camera by CNN about the Monterey Jazz Festival and by Arts & Entertainment for their televised American Masters biography on Dizzy Gillespie.

Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He contributed thousands of additional CD reviews to the third edition, becoming sole editor. He is one of the most prolific jazz record reviewers in history. He continues to contribute to the Allmusic website.

In addition to his work for the All Music Guide to Jazz, Yanow has written ten books on jazz (see bibliography below).

Yanow has penned over 600 liner notes for many record labels. He has also written artist biographies and press releases for record labels, public relations firms and individual artists.

Yanow has produced a series of CDs for Allegro, worked as a consultant to other labels about their reissue projects, hosted a regular radio show (Jazz After Hours) for KCSN-FM, and worked as the jazz listings editor for the Los Angeles Times.

Bibliography[link]

Books

The Jazz Singers

• Jazz On Film
• Duke Ellington
• Swing
• Bebop
• Afro-Cuban Jazz, ISBN 0-87930-619-X (2000)
• Trumpet Kings
• Classic Jazz
• Jazz: A Regional Exploration
• Jazz On Record 1917-76

Contributions to magazines

• Record Review
• Coda
• Down Beat
• Jazz Times
• JAZZIZ
• Cadence
• The Mississippi Rag
• Jazz Forum
• Jazz News
• The Jazz Report
• Planet Jazz
• Jazz Now
• Jazz Improv
• The Los Angeles Jazz Scene

Contributions to record labels

• Concord Records
• Naxos Records
• Enja
• Pablo Records
• Arbors Records
• Evidence
• V.S.O.P.
• Good Time Jazz
• Reservoir
• Storyville Records
• JVC
• Challenge Records
• Starline
• Candid Records
• Soundies
• Woofy
• Brownstone
• Fuel 2000
• Jazzed Media
• Collectors Classics
• Allegro

Quotations[link]

^[2]

^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Scott Yanow's official site

Billy Cobham
Cobham performing at WOMAD, July, 2005
Background information
Birth name	William E. Cobham
Born	(1944-05-16) 16 May 1944 (age 68) Panama
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, post-bop, jazz funk, rock music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, bandleader, instructor
Instruments	Drums, percussion
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Atlantic, Columbia, CTI, Elektra, GRP
Associated acts	Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jack Bruce, New York Jazz Quartet, Jazz Is Dead, Bobby and the Midnites, Mark-Almond
Website	www.billycobham.com

William C. Cobham (born May 16, 1944 in Panama) is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who permanently relocated to Switzerland during the late 1970s.^[1]

Coming to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Allmusic's reviewer claims Cobham is "generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer with an influential style that combines explosive power and exacting precision.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Born in Panama, Cobham's family moved to New York City during his early childhood. A drummer from his youth, Cobham attended New York's High School of Music and Art, graduating in 1962.^[1]

He played in a U.S. Army Band from 1965 to 1968. Following his discharge, Cobham joined an ensemble led by pianist Horace Silver for about a year, also playing or recording with saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, organist Shirley Scott, and guitarist George Benson.^[1]

Jazz fusion work[link]

Cobham branched out to jazz fusion, which blended elements of jazz, rock and roll and funk, playing and recording with the Brecker Brothers (notably in their 1970-founded group Dreams), and guitarist John Abercrombie, before recording and touring extensively with trumpeter Miles Davis. Cobham's work with Davis appears on A Tribute to Jack Johnson, among other recordings. Cobham is also one of the first drummers to play open-handed lead: a drummer that plays on a right-handed set but leads with his left hand on the hi-hat instead of crossing over with his right (and also has his ride cymbal on the left side, instead of the traditional right). He typically plays with multiple toms and double bass drums and was well known in the '70s for his large drum kits.

In 1971, Cobham worked on guitarist John McLaughlin's album My Goal's Beyond.^[1] McLaughlin and Cobham co-founded Mahavishnu Orchestra, a definitive jazz fusion ensemble. Cobham toured extensively from 1971 to 1973 with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, who released two studio albums and one live album. The original studio versions of tunes on the live album were later released as The Lost Trident Sessions in 1999.

In May 1973, while still with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cobham recorded his first solo album, Spectrum with keyboardist Jan Hammer, from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, guitarist Tommy Bolin, who later played with hard rock band Deep Purple, and bassist Lee Sklar. Just before the Mahavishnu Orchestra's last touring leg, in late 1973, Cobham recorded and toured with guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, in concerts which featured material from their album Love Devotion Surrender, and Cobham's own material. As bandleader and composer, Cobham recorded a number of other ground-breaking fusion records during the '70s, Total Eclipse, A Funky Thide of Sings, and Crosswinds. You can also hear his '70s playing well represented on George Duke and Billy Cobham European Tour Live. It was on this tour that Billy reported (in a Down Beat interview) experiencing astral projection during shows, wherein he found himself hovering above and in front of his drums, watching himself play in ways he'd never thought of or executed previously.

In the 1970s, Cobham recorded extensively for the fusion-oriented CTI Records, founded by producer Creed Taylor. Also during that period he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet.^{[citation needed]}

In 1976 Cobham played drums on the album To the Heart by Mark-Almond (Jon Mark, Johnny Almond).^{[citation needed]}

1980s work and later[link]

In 1980, he worked with Jack Bruce, in a band named Jack Bruce & Friends. In 1984 he played with Dave Garland and Bobby Cochran in the band Bobby and the Midnites (which was the primary side project for Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead). Last, Cobham recruited Kenny Gradney (of Little Feat) and together recorded the album Where the Beat Meets the Street. In 1998, he joined up with Grateful Dead cover band Jazz Is Dead.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, he joined an all-star cast at the Los Angeles Greek Theatre and the results appeared on Stanley Clarke, Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson Live at the Greek. The concert was predominantly Clarke's music but all the musicians contributed material. A number of solo albums followed (as of July 2005, Cobham has released over 30 recordings under his own name), and continues to record, perform and teach.

In 2006, Cobham released Drum n voice 2. This was a return to the 1970s jazz-funk sound, with guests including Jan Hammer, Buddy Miles, John Patitucci, Jeff Berlin, Dominic Miller, Mike Lindup, Airto Moreira, Frank Gambale, Brian Auger, Guy Barker and the band Novecento. The CD was produced and arranged by Pino and Lino Nicolosi for Nicolosi productions.^[2][3]

Cobham was announced as a patron and visiting artist of top London drum college Drumtech in June 2008.^[4]

Billy Cobham performing on Réunion in October 2006

In 2009, Cobham released Drum n voice 3. Guests included Chaka Khan, Gino Vannelli, George Duke, Alex Acuna, Bob Mintzer, Brian Auger, John Scofield and Novecento. The CD was produced and arranged by Pino and Lino Nicolosi for Nicolosi productions.

Billy Cobham performed with John McLaughlin at the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland, on Friday, July 2, 2010, for the first time since the band split up.

As of March 2010, Cobham had begun working on a new project with acclaimed Jordanian guitarist Kamal Musallam.^[5]

In August 2011 the album Rock the Tabla was released. Featuring Billy Cobham, A.R. Rahman, Hossam Ramzy, Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Manu Katché.^[6]

In December 2011, Cobham began teaching drums online at the Billy Cobham School of Drums, a school within the ArtistWorks Drum Academy.

Sampling[link]

He has been sampled by Massive Attack in their tune "Safe from Harm", centered on the beat and bassline of Cobham's "Stratus", from his debut album Spectrum; by Souls of Mischief's "93 'til Infinity", based on the bassline and keyboards of "Heather", from 1974's Crosswinds, and by DJ Shadow on "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain",^[7] which uses elements of "A Funky Kind of Thing" from 1975's A Funky Thide of Sings. Cobham is also covered extensively by "hyperfunk" jam-band RAQ.

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• 2002: Glass Menagerie
• 2004: Live Palais des Festivals Hall Cannes 1989
• 2005: Billy Cobham - Culturemix: New Morning Paris Concert
• 2005: Billy Cobham - Drums for the Soul - Solo Concert - Drums and Percussion Paderborn
• 2005: Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie: Live in Riazzino
• 2007: Billy Cobham Live At 60
• 2007: Cobham Meets Bellson
• 2007: Cobham: Crosswinds
• 2009: Live in Cannes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billy Cobham

• Billy Cobham homepage
• Billy Cobham management
• Interview with Billy Cobham
• Billy Cobham Drummerworld.com page
• Billy Cobham Interview about working with A.R. Rahman and Hossam Ramzy
• Billy Cobham School of Drums

Steve Khan
Background information
Birth name	Steve Cahn
Born	(1947-04-28) April 28, 1947 (age 65)
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	jazz guitar
Labels	Columbia Records Novus Records
Associated acts	Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Hubert Laws, Billy Cobham, James Brown, Maynard Ferguson, Weather Report, Bob James

Steve Khan (born April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Khan is known for his work with artists such as Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Michael Franks, Hubert Laws, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, James Brown, Maynard Ferguson, and Weather Report. In 1977, he toured with the CBS Jazz All Stars in Japan, and led a band called Eyewitness that featured musicians such as Steve Jordan, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena. Khan is the author of five books on jazz music: Pentatonic Khancepts, Contemporary Chord Khancepts, The Wes Montgomary Guitar Folio, Pat Martino - The Early Years, and Guitar Workshop Series. His album Borrowed Time (TIEMPO PRESTADO) was a nominee for the 2007 50th Grammy Awards in the Best Latin Jazz Album (vocal or instrumental) category.

During the 1980s and 90s he was a member of the group Elements.

He is the son of lyricist Sammy Cahn.

Discography[link]

• Sometime Other Than Now (1976) by Steve Marcus Count's Rock Band, Flying Dutchman [All songs written by Steve Khan]
• Two For the Road (1977) by Larry Coryell and Steve Khan, Novus - Live acoustic guitar duets
• Tightrope (1977), Columbia
• Alivemutherforya (1978), Columbia
• The Blue Man (1978), Columbia
• Arrows (1979), Columbia
• The Best of Steve Khan (1980), Columbia
• Evidence (1980), Arista/Novus - solo acoustic guitar
• Eyewitness (1981), Trio Records - with Steve Jordan, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena
• Modern Times (1982), Trio Records - [Also known as "Blades" on Passport records] - Live in Japan with Steve Jordan, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena
• Casa Loco (1983), Antilles/Polydor - with Steve Jordan, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena
• Local Color (1987), Denon Records - duet with Rob Mounsey
• Helping Hand (1987), Polydor - with Steve Jordan, Anthony Jackson, Manolo Badrena, Bill Evans (saxophonist), Clifford Carter, Neil Jason, Christopher Parker & Cafe
• Public Access (1989), GRP Records - with Dave Weckl, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena
• Let's Call This (1991), Bluemoon - trio album with Ron Carter and Al Foster
• Headline (1992), Bluemoon - with Ron Carter and Al Foster; and Dennis Chambers, Anthony Jackson and Manolo Badrena
• The Collection (1994), Columbia
• The Crossings (1994), Verve/Forecast - with Dennis Chambers, Anthony Jackson, Manolo Badrena and Michael Brecker
• Got My Mental (1996), Evidence - with John Patitucci, Jack DeJohnette, Don Alias, Bobby Allende, Marc Quiñones and Cafe
• You Are Here (1997), Siam Records - duet with Rob Mounsey
• New Horizons (2000), by Caribbean Jazz Project, Concord Picante
• Paraiso (2001), by Caribbean Jazz Project, Concord Picante
• The Green Field, (2005), Tone Center Records - with John Patitucci, Jack DeJohnette, Manolo Badrena, Ralph Irizarry, Roberto Quintero
• Borrowed Time, (2007), Tone Center Records
• The Suitcase, (2007), ESC Records
• Parting Shot, (2011), Tone Center Records (USA); 55 Records(Japan); and ESC Records (Germany/Europe) - with Anthony Jackson, Dennis Chambers, Manolo Badrena, Marc Quiñones, Bobby Allende, Rob Mounsey, Andrés Beeuwsaert (Aca Seca Trio), and Brasilian vocalist, Tatiana Parra

As sideman[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Patti Austin

• End of a Rainbow (CTI, 1976)
• Havana Candy (CTI, 1977)

With George Benson

• Benson & Farrell with Joe Farrell (CTI, 1976)

External links[link]

• Official website
• Steve Khan at Allmusic

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

Alphonso Johnson
Johnson performing in Rochester, New York in 1977.
Background information
Birth name	Alphonso Johnson
Born	Born 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, funk
Instruments	Bass, Chapman Stick
Associated acts	Weather Report, Bobby and the Midnites, Jazz Is Dead
Website	www.embamba.com

Alphonso Johnson (born 2 February 1951) is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.

Biography[link]

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed innovation and fluidity on the electric bass. He sessioned with a few jazz musicians before landing a job with Weather Report,^[1] taking over for co-founding member Miroslav Vitous. His playing was featured on the Weather Report album Mysterious Traveller, on the songs "Cucumber Slumber" and "Scarlet Woman". Johnson appeared on two more albums for Weather Report before he would leave the band to work with drummer Billy Cobham.^[1] During 1976-77 he recorded three solo albums as a band leader, for the Epic label, in a fusion-funk vein.

Johnson was one of the first musicians to introduce the Chapman Stick to the public. His knowledge of the instrument nearly landed him a lucrative job with Genesis as the replacement for guitarist Steve Hackett, who had quit Genesis in 1977. Being more of a bassist than a guitarist, Johnson instead recommended his friend ex-Sweetbottom guitarist and fellow session musician Daryl Stuermer, who would go on to remain a member of Genesis's touring band for the rest of their existence.

Johnson was one of two bass players on Phil Collins's first solo album, Face Value, in 1981.

In early 1982, Johnson joined Grateful Dead member Bob Weir's side project Bobby and the Midnites. He would reunite with Weir in 2000, playing bass in place of Phil Lesh on tour with The Other Ones. He has also performed fusion versions of Grateful Dead songs alongside Billy Cobham in the band Jazz Is Dead.

In 1983, he performed on the hit title track from Jeffrey Osborne's Stay With Me Tonight album. He then played in the Latin/rock band Santana in 1985-1989.

Later in 1996, Johnson toured Europe and Japan with composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist James Beard, drummer Rodney Holmes, and guitarist David Gilmore.

Since Fall of 2011 he is working toward a Music Education degree at Department of Music at California State University, Northridge

Children[link]

He also has two sons named Myles Ramon and Malcolm Ra Johnson, who are following in their father's footsteps as artists. Myles is studying to become a film director and Malcolm is attending The Academy of Art to graduate as an illustrator. The two are working together on a graphic novel project labeled "Roof Top Jazz".

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Moonshadows (1976), Epic
• Yesterdays Dreams (1976), Epic
• Spellbound (1977), Epic

As sideman[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Eddie Henderson

• Sunburst (Blue Note, 1975)

With Rod Argent

• Moving Home (1978)

With Santana (band)

• Beyond Appearances (Columbia, 1985)
• Abraxas Pool (Miramar, 1994)

With Bob Weir

• "Bobby & The Midnights" (Arista 1981)
• "Where the Beat Meets the Street" (Columbia 1984)

With George Duke and Billy Cobham Band

• "Live on Tour in Europe" (Atlantic 1976)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alphonso Johnson

• The Alphonso Johnson official website

Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann and Will Lee (1975)
Background information
Born	(1930-04-16)April 16, 1930 Brooklyn, New York United States
Origin	United States
Died	July 1, 2003(2003-07-01) (aged 73)
Genres	Jazz, bossa nova, disco, world music
Occupations	musician, record label executive
Instruments	Flute, saxophone, bass clarinet
Years active	1953–2003
Labels	Atlantic Records, Cotillion Records, Embryo Records, Kokopelli Records
Associated acts	Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto
Website	http://www.herbiemannmusic.com/ Official Site

Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003),^[1] known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinets (including bass clarinet), but Mann was among the first jazz musicians to specialize on the flute and was perhaps jazz music's preeminent flutist during the 1960s. His most popular single was "Hijack," which was a Billboard number-one dance hit for three weeks in 1975.

Mann emphasized the groove approach in his music. Mann felt that from his repertoire, the "epitome of a groove record" was Memphis Underground or Push Push, because the "rhythm section locked all in one perception." ^[2]

Biography[link]

Herbie Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents of Romanian and Russian descent.^[3][4] He attended Lincoln High School in Brighton Beach. His first professional performance was playing the Catskills resorts at age 15. In the 1950s Mann was primarily a bop flutist, playing in combos with artists such as Phil Woods, occasionally playing bass clarinet, tenor saxophone and solo flute.

Mann was an early pioneer of the fusion of jazz and world music^{[citation needed]}. In 1959, following a State Department sponsored tour of Africa, he recorded Flutista, an album of Afro-Cuban jazz. In 1961 Mann toured Brazil, returning to the United States to record with Brazilian musicians, including Antonio Carlos Jobim and guitarist Baden Powell. These albums helped popularize bossa nova in the US and Europe. He often worked with Brazilian themes. In the mid-1960s Mann hired a young Chick Corea to play in some of his bands. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Mann played duets at New York City's Bottom Line and Village Gate clubs, with the late Sarod virtuso Vasant Rai.

Following the 1969 hit album Memphis Underground a number of disco-style smooth jazz records brought criticism from jazz purists but allowed Mann remain active during a period of declining interest in jazz. The musicians on these recordings are some of the best-known session players in soul and jazz, including singer Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston), guitarists Duane Allman and Larry Coryell, bassists Donald "Duck" Dunn and Chuck Rainey and drummers Al Jackson and Bernard Purdie. In this period Mann had a number of pop hits — rare for a jazz musician. According to a 1998 interview Mann had made at least 25 albums that were on the Billboard 200 pop charts, success denied most of his jazz peers." ^[5]

Mann provided the music for the 1978 National Film Board of Canada animated short Afterlife, by Ishu Patel.

In the early 1970s he founded his own label, Embryo Records, distributed by Cotillion Records, a division of Atlantic Records.^[6] Embryo produced jazz albums, such as Ron Carter's Uptown Conversation (1970); Miroslav Vitous' first solo album, Infinite Search (1969); Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1971); and Dick Morrissey and Jim Mullen's Up (1976), which featured the Average White Band as a rhythm section; and the 730 Series, with a more rock-oriented style, including Zero Time (1971) by TONTO's Expanding Head Band. He later set up Kokopelli Records after difficulty with established labels. In 1996, Mann collaborated with Stereolab on the song "One Note Samba/Surfboard" for the AIDS-Benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization. His last appearance was on May 3, 2003 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at age 73. He died at age 73 on July 1, 2003 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Further Discography and Biography
• National Public Radio's Jazz Profiles: Herbie Mann