Jimmy Cobb was born on January 20, 1929. A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy is the elder statesman of all of the incredible Miles Davis bands. Jimmy's inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co. spanned 1957 until 1963, and included the masterpiece "Kind of Blue", the most popular jazz recording in history. He also played on "Sketches of Spain", Someday My Prince will Come", "Live at Carnegie Hall, "Live at the Blackhawk", "Porgy and Bess", and many, many other watermark Miles Davis recordings.
The Miles recordings and live performances are not the only high points of Jimmy Cobb's quiet, but truly outstanding career. Jimmy did his first recording with Earl Bostic. Known from an early age as a great accompanist, Jimmy played extensively with Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderly, before joining Miles in 1957.
Tony Williams took over the Miles drum chair in 1963 when Jimmy left Miles to continue to work with Miles' rhythm section, Winton Kelly and Paul Chambers behind Wes Montgomery. In addition to several Winton Kelly Trio Albums, the three did albums with Kenny Burrell, and J.J. Johnson, among others, before disbanding in the late 60's.
Jimmy Cobb then worked with Sarah Vaughn for 9 years. Jimmy then continued to freelance with several great groups throughout the 70's 80's and 90's including, Sonny Stitt, Nat Adderly, Ricky Ford, Hank Jones, Ron Carter, George Coleman, Fathead Newman, The Great Jazz Trio, Dave Holland, Warren Bernhardt and many others.
Jimmy Cobb has played around the world from Newport to Monte Carlo, from LA to Japan. He has performed for President Carter, the Shah of Iran and many other dignitaries in his storied career and is quoted extensively in "Kind of Blue", the Documentary of those legendary recording sessions.
Currently, Jimmy Cobb is not slowing down even a little. He splits any downtime between his New York City "digs" and his home in Woodstock, NY with his two children, Jaime and Serena, and long time partner and collaborator, Eleana Tee. However, he still tours with his own band, "Cobb's Mob" and combines with many incredible artists both old and new. Jimmy has just completed a "Four Generations of Miles" album with guitarist, Mike Stern, Ron Carter (bass), and George Coleman (tenor) for Chesky records.
Jimmy Cobb is about to release his newest and long awaited solo album, "Yesterdays", produced by Eleana Tee for Rteesan Productions. It features Michael Brecker on tenor, Marion Meadows on soprano, Roy Hargrove, trumpet and flugelhorn, Jon Faddis, trumpet, Eric Lewis, electric piano, Peter Bernstein, guitar, Jerry Mall, percussion and John Weber on bass. It includes a wide variety of arrangements ranging from a unique interpretation of Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" to ballads "Yesterdays" and blues (All Blues, Faddis, Monk) and standards, "Without a Song" and "Love Walked Right In". This major musical statement will include several music videos and a complete television documentary. And as usual with Jimmy Cobb, you won't believe what's up next!
Cobb died on May 24, 2020, at his home in Manhattan. He was 91, and had been suffering from lung cancer