Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jimmy Wilbur Cobb was born January 20, 1929 in Washington, DC. Playing around the nation’s capital with the leading local musicians, by the age of 22, Jimmy left DC to tour with Earl Bostic; and with his wife Dinah Washington, doubling as her musical director until 1955. After freelancing for a while in New York he joined Cannonball Adderley from 1957-58, played briefly with Stan Getz, and Dizzy Gillespie.

In late 1958 Cobb followed Cannonball into the Miles Davis group until 1963. It was during this period of his career that he was a part of what many consider to be the quintessential jazz album Kind Of Blue. He also recorded with Davis on Sketches Of Spain, Someday My Prince Will Come, Live at the Blackhawk and Carnegie Hall, Porgy & Bess and the Sorcerer.

During the 70’s he played with Wynton Kelly, Sarah Vaughan with copious freelance work and a long relationship with Nat Adderley continued well into the nineties. His resume is an impressive testament to his time playing, well-constructed improvisation or slow compelling sounds having worked extensively with a wide range of artists from Pearl Bailey and John Coltrane to Eddie Gomez and Geri Allen.

The drummer has received the Don Redman Heritage award and has been inducted as a NEA Jazz Master. He remained vibrant in the jazz idiom touring and performing regularly with his group, as of 2011, the Jimmy Cobb “So What” Band, as a tribute to 50 years of Kind of Blue and the music of Miles Davis.

Drummer and bandleader Jimmy Cobb, having been suffering from lung cancer, passed away on May 24, 2020 at his Manhattan home at the age of 91.

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