Jimmy Cobb

In a career spanning nearly six decades, drummer Jimmy Cobb has proven to be a master of every musical situation. One of jazz’s definitive accompanists, Cobb made his name in support of such giants as Dinah Washington, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery and Sarah Vaughan, and on literally hundreds of studio sessions. As the drummer on Davis’ legendary album Kind of Blue, Cobb may be the most frequently heard (if not the best known) drummer in jazz history; and as part of the legendary Davis rhythm section with pianist Wynton Kelly and bassist Paul Chambers, he created a manner of swinging in the modern idiom that remains the gold standard for rhythmic inspiration. For all his achievements, however, Jimmy Cobb’s contribution has too often been taken for granted, which is why he is the perfect subject to help launch the new Honors Series from Marsalis Music.

“There was a lot of music coming through Washington, D.C. when I was growing up,” Cobb notes in explaining the development of his style, “and as a working musician you had to play in a whole lot of situations. By working clubs, dances, concerts and the shows that were featured in movie theaters, your growth was shaped. The way I play the cymbal, for instance, is something I heard from a guy who came through Washington. It’s not exactly how he played it, of course; it’s how I heard it.”

What Cobb heard – a lean, assertive beat that drives a band without calling attention to itself – shaped some of the most influential music of the ‘50s and ‘60s. His stints with Cannonball Adderley (1956-7), Miles Davis (1958-63) and the cooperative trio with Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers that worked both on its own and in support of Wes Montgomery (1963-8), as well as countless recordings by a who’s-who of jazz greats, confirmed his mastery in the small-group format.