Billy Cobham at 80

‘What is life but a spectrum,’ asks Cobham, ‘and what is music but life itself?’ If you’ve been anywhere near the jazz scene in the last 50 years, Cobham needs no introduction. He’s one of the most energising and transformative drummers in modern jazz – working with legends as varied as Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Meanwhile, in albums such as Spectrum, he’s redefined the way we listen. In his 80th birthday year the BBC Concert Orchestra is thrilled to perform with him tonight, along with longtime colleague (and lifelong fan) Guy Barker – and to help him realise a long-cherished ambition. ‘During the last decade he has expressed a big desire to perform his music with a large orchestra,’ says Barker, who’s created new orchestrations of repertoire including ‘Red Baron’, ‘Spectrum’, ‘Crosswinds’, ‘Stratus’ and ‘A Funky Thide of Sings’. ‘Finally we will have the chance to do this,’ he says. Be there.