Billy Cobham & Asere

When jazz drumming icon and musical legend Billy Cobham first teamed up with the innovative and stylish young Cuban group Asere at WOMAD 2002, no-one could quite have anticipated where their union would end up. Six years on, the result is a stunning collaborative debut album ‘De Cuba y De Panama’, which marks a journey into the making of musical history. The warmth of the relationship that has developed between these two powerhouses radiates loud and clear through their music as they bring the full Cuban experience to the stage, exploring soul, jazz and funk influences all mixed up with a kicking Latin vibe. With gigs lined up for Glastonbury and Womad, and an 18 date UK tour scheduled for Autumn 2008, you’ll not only have the chance to buy to the hottest summer album of 2008, but there’s also never been a better time to see this remarkable collaboration live. Born in Panama, Billy Cobham moved to New York with his parents at the age of three, and has become a musical legend with a large and faithful following world-wide. A hugely influential musician, Billy has put the pulse into everything from funk to soul to jazz and has played with a list of musicians that reads like a who’s who of modern music, including Miles Davis, George Benson, Oscar Peterson, Jack Bruce, and Herbie Hancock. Groundbreaking and contemporary, Asere recreate the passion and feeling of the music they heard around them growing up in Havana. Their superb interpretation of Cuba’s musical traditions has produced a creative, pioneering repertoire, deeply respectful of their predecessors yet with an exciting contemporary edge, blessed with inventive song writing and a soulful groove. Put Billy and Asere together, and you have something very special indeed, a thrilling musical relationship fired by mutual respect, spontaneity and enjoyment. It’s a hugely uplifting experience full of human warmth for both musicians and audience alike - one to cherish for a lifetime! Billy and Asere first met at the WOMAD Festival, Reading in 2002. Following a recording session in Real World Studios and two further appearances at WOMAD Festivals in Singapore and Sri Lanka, their story remarkably came to Cardigan when Theatr Mwldan and Taliesin Arts Centre formed a partnership with Astar Music to co-produce Billy and Asere’s first full collaboration and four date tour, which took place in Wales in March 2006. Two further tours have in October 2006 and May 2007 preceded the release of a DVD and CD boxset in July '07. Billy Cobham: It has been 6 years now since I first met members of Asere at a WOMAD festival in Cáceres, Spain. Over this time, we have worked together more and more and are now collaborating on educational presentations and performances world wide. I believe that, through my association with my Cuban colleagues, my mind has been exposed to the family that I left behind, when I was just 3 years old, in Panamá. I have found the urge strong enough for me to return to my roots with the idea that I might be able to put some pieces of my family puzzle together in order to help me see my future better through this clearer view of my past. As of 2005, I began building my family ties in Panama, the country of my birth, living with relatives there and re-introducing myself to life in their world. The experience has been dramatic enough for me to be inspired to write and arrange material that best reflects my experiences there of late. With the help of everyone in the Asere family, I am learning more about my past as I contribute to the music that is now relevant to my present and future performances. This is reflected in these most recent recordings as well as in what we present live in concert. Billy Cobham Bern, Switzerland, May 2008 John Hollis, Producer When I first started working with Billy I had little idea who he was. It was only after several shows and recording sessions that it began to dawn on me what this man had achieved in his life and that awareness led me to wondering what he was doing hanging out with the likes of myself and Asere. After a while, things became clearer – as Billy got his head round the Cuban rhythms, learnt to sing in Spanish, dabbled with the bongos and even risked preparing a dance routine for performance, I realized that here was a person not only up for a serious musical collaboration but someone who had decided the time had come in his life to rediscover and explore a culture of prime importance to himself and his family. This was an experience he was going to enjoy to the full. The sensation this evoked, and the ease with which the music came together, had a profound effect on all of us. As we worked together across three concert tours, the musical journey became an increasingly fascinating one – one which went deeper with each encounter and clearly moved many of those who came to see the shows. This album is the result of those performances. Rehearsal time was always limited so the songs came together little by little whenever the opportunity arose and matured in concert. Indeed the structures for all the pieces went down live in the studio. From the beginning we decided to go with grooves, and these have taken us in more directions that we first imagined. Equally important was to find a way that a massive drum kit and an arsenal of percussion could work together whilst breathing naturally. As with any meaningful collaboration, to achieve this sense of space, power and subtlety requires mutual respect, humility and the ability to listen. Inspired by this process and the music it delivered, we are all motivated to continue the work and discover what lies ahead. John Hollis Bath, England May 2008 Asere: This project is dedicated to many: those who believed in us and those who always doubted. It is dedicated to the people who gave everything in order that we might catch a glimpse of success and to others who struggled to prevent this in an absurdly obstinate way. But above acknowledgements and dedications, this album is a hommage to the geographical-cultural mixture that makes up ‘Our America’, beyond dogmas, doctrines or policies that try to fragment it. It is also the modest hommage of several men who pay tribute to music, peace and spirituality. This album too is an offering of respect to the peoples of our area and a good start to making our great dream come true: that music might reach the hands of all those eager to start on a wonderful journey – from New Orleans to the plains on the banks of the River Arauca, from New York to Habana, from Andalusia to Santiago …. from Cuba to Panamá!!!!!!! Asere Habana, Cuba, April 2008