Billy Cobham – an important mentor

I played with Billy Cobham in 1990 as part of an Australian tour he was doing. The promoter hired different players for each state and I played the four Melbourne concerts. From the first moments into the opening concert I could tell Billy was impressed with my playing – not by the way he was looking at me (I probably had my eyes shut anyway) but from the way he responded to the things I was playing.

It felt really good from the word ‘go’. Anyway he asked for my number at the end of the last gig and around three months later I received a phone call from him at five in the morning, inviting me to play with him in New York. Throughout the following 10 years, I travelled all over Europe, Japan, Argentina, the US, back to Australia and England with him. The group took a different shape on each tour. I think my favourite bands were the ones with Brian Bromberg, Ernie Watts and Wayne Krantz. I loved the trio gigs we did in Japan as well – Billy, Ira Coleman on bass, and me. Randy Brecker played on one of the tours, and I had fun playing with him too.

We made a couple of CDs – The Traveller and By Design. Billy encouraged me so much and in a way he was my first and only mentor in jazz. He really made me believe in my own abilities a little more and as a result, I was encouraged to make my own CDs.