During three months in 2007, Jazz FM Radio presented us the consecutive Sofia Jazz Peak. October was dedicated to Billy Cobham, and so, on October 24 the National Palace of Culture's Hall 1 gave shelter to about 2000 fans of the legendary Panama drummer and his band Culture Mix for over 90 minutes of music in the fusion mood of the sextet.

About 7:50 p.m. the lights went out, the stars of the evening came on stage and took us directly with their classic track “Crosswinds”...

Analysis of the work of this project you have to ask from a studied musician. Through the eyes (and mostly the ears) of a meloman we experienced an amazing performance of excellent instrumentalists, great solos, warm treatment and lovely mood. More than once Billy dashed into diverse individual rhythms and the percussions, the keyboard and the guitar were his most common adherents in the improvisations. The drummer walked ahead twice, presented the people with him and declared that after the show they would stay around the stage in order to chat with the fans and make photos, and asked us for our support by buying music from the official merchandise that he was selling after the finale himself.

The band was in almost the same line-up in which we saw them last year in Plovdiv, but this time the rhythm section was presented with a more profound sound thanks to the additional percussions. Very memorable was the performance of the guitar player Jean-Marie Ecay, too, who proved he could perfectly fit in a fusion band and at the same time pull out sound heavy enough for hard and heavy compositions. His "dialogues" with bass player Mike Mondesir didn’t stop and all the time they made his skinny colleague smile under his hat. We also enjoyed the skills of Christophe Cravero who, besides the constant keyboard accompaniment, completed the musical bouquet with the sounds of a violin as well.

The band took a walk through the large discography of Cobham. Among the played compositions we heard “Egg Shells”, “Mirage”, a piece meant to enter the forthcoming album, and the killing “Stratus”, which inflamed the mood in the hall and more and more faces were lightened up by smiles. After it there followed the compulsory “Panama”, dedicated to the motherland of Billy Cobham, and the last declared track for the evening, “Alfa Waves”, prolonged by percussion and drum solos.

The only encore was “Red Baron” off the album “Spectrum” (1973), during which the crowd left the seats and stormed the positions in front the stage. Bows and gratitude followed, and for more than an hour everyone could personally greet the musicians for the magical evening, buy a CD or a DVD, talk to them or just take an autograph.

Report: Ivaylo Alexandrov / Tangra Mega Rock

Photos: Victor Alexandrov / Tangra Mega Rock

More photos of the event are available in our GALLERY.