# CD review: Jimmy Cobb – This I Dig of You 2019: Video, CD cover, Photo

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/11/22/cd-review-jimmy-cobb-this-i-dig-of-you-2019-video-cd-cover-photo/
- Published: 2019-11-22T00:54:55+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**In the spring of 1959, drummer Jimmy Cobb took part in the two recording sessions
that made up Miles Davis’ iconic jazz album, _Kind of Blue_. He doesn’t remember
them particularly. But then he is not, he confesses, particularly nostalgic. **

Peter Bernstein, his guitarist on his new album, _This I Dig of You_, made when 
Cobb was 90 (and his pianist Harold Mabern 83), notes that Cobb lives, musically
at least, in the moment. And that means the tunes they play aren’t treated in a 
sanctified manner. Bernstein says: “Some of them are so iconic from the original
recordings, that just out of respect, I’m not trying to do a cover…but he doesn’t
care. He’s just like, ‘It’s a nice tune. Do you feel like playing it?”

Cobb has been playing nice tunes seemingly from birth, but observant jazz fans may
first have heard of him in 1952 when, after several recording dates with saxophonist
Earl Bostic, the drummer started backing up the blues and jazz singer Dinah Washington.
In January 1952, she recorded songs such as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Trouble in Mind”
accompanied by “Jimmy Cobb’s Orchestra.” The band featured solos by tenor greats
Ben Webster and Wardell Gray. A little later, Cobb was performing off and on with
the pianist with whose name he will always be linked: Wynton Kelly. When he was 
still with Bostic, Cobb heard the then teen-aged pianist. Ironically, they didn’t
bond immediately; but Cobb knew he had just heard an emerging star. In an interview
with me, he recalled “Wynton was unorthodox. He played with three fingers on his
right hand — not the thumb and not the little finger. Just like Wes (Montgomery)
used to play all those lines with his thumb. Those guys come from another place.
I never had that much talent. I had to study.” Famously, after recording at least
eight sessions with Cannonball Adderley, and sneaking in sessions with the likes
of Carmen McRae, Cobb joined bassist Paul Chambers on bass and Kelly to become the
rhythm section of the Miles Davis Quintet that also featured John Coltrane.

They were one of the most celebrated rhythm sections in jazz, a popular attraction
on their own and frequently used as a unit on some of the best recordings of the
time. While still with Miles, the trio made records such as _Introducing Wayne Shorter_,
Art Pepper’s _Getting’ Together_, Wes Montgomery’s _Full House_ and _Smokin’ at 
the Half Note_ and Benny Golson’s _Turning Point_. Wanting to play their own repertoire,
the trio split from Miles Davis in 1963. They struggled a bit financially, but never
musically. They were revered among musicians, both for their own recordings and 
for the way they fit into almost any swinging band. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson
played with them during a live date in 1968 at the Left Bank Society. He told me
that it was like entering, intruding really, on hallowed ground. Henderson praised
Cobb in particular. In our interview (about the record _Four!_) Henderson told me:“
I’ve never heard Jimmy Cobb sound better…Cobb just blew me away. He plays some solos
that are absolutely incredible. You just don’t hear those kinds of solos.“ Henderson
may have been thinking of Cobb’s long, though excitingly taut and rational, solo
on the title cut, “Four.”)

The death of Kelly in 1971 was, of course, a blow. Cobb persisted, playing behind
Sarah Vaughan for years, and then with just about everybody. He kept up with the
youngsters. I’ll note in particular Geri Allen’s 2006 recording, _Timeless Portraits
and Dreams_. Cobb told me he grew up playing rhythm and blues and accompanying dancers
at the Apollo, as well as performing swing and bop. He’s played discreetly behind
singers, and accompanied 45 minute solos by John Coltrane with all the verve and
spirit and inventiveness that was called for. (He remembers Miles asking Coltrane
if, next time, he could take 27 choruses instead of 28). Music, Cobb says, is simply
what he does, even at age 90.

![](https://i0.wp.com/artsfuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Jimmy-Cobb_This-I-
Dig-Of-You-promo.png?resize=600%2C500)

**Drummer Jimmy Cobb at 90 — still swinging. Photo: courtesy of the artist.**

His experience, if not his age, shows on _This I Dig of You_, in the unusual choice
of tunes, the perfect choice of sidemen, and in the way he makes the the band’s 
performances sound both spontaneous and fluid. One can hear it in the way he navigates
the various rhythms of Wes Montgomery’s “Full House,” a piece that begins with Cobb’s
tom-toms and a ticking rhythm during the introduction. Once the main theme comes
in, Cobb switches to cymbals and a chattering snare drum commentary. It’s not just
the precision of the sound and its glorious contrasts that matter, but the way Cobb
makes every shift seem smooth — almost inevitable. “Full House” is mostly dedicated(
appropriately) to guitarist Peter Bernstein’s Wes Montgomery-influenced sound: he’s
a wonder throughout. Then there’s the solo from the bluesy Memphis-born pianist 
Harold Mabern. He has almost as long a pedigree as Cobb: in 1959 he recorded for
Vee Jay with the popular group MJT+3.

The disc opens with Hank Mobley’s “This I Dig of You.” Kelly and Chambers played
on Mobley’s original recording (on _Soul Station_), but Art Blakey was the drummer.
Here Cobb and Mabern provide a lesson in swinging accompaniment as they play behind
Bernstein. Mabern’s solo is a thumping two-handed workout that leads to the three
principals trading fours. The band plays Dexter Gordon’s “Cheese Cake” and a tune
forgotten by me, though Billy Eckstine sang it and John Coltrane played it: “I’ll
Wait and Pray” by George Treadwell, who is remembered (when at all) as a mediocre
trumpet player once married to Sarah Vaughan, whom he managed, along with Ruth Brown
and the Drifters. But it’s a lovely tune, sweetly introduced by Mabern and given
a kind of lazy grandeur by Bernstein. Again, Cobb’s active — but discreet — drumming
on this ballad is a pleasure, as are the bass lines of John Webber, a frequent collaborator
with Mabern. Nothing in this session reminds us of the age of the principals. That
in itself, if not miraculous, is at least impressive. _This I Dig of You_ delvers
a solid, joyously swinging set of mainstream jazz.

**Tracks**

1. This I Dig of You 05:46
 2. Blood Wolf Moon Blues 06:51 3. I’m Getting Sentimental
Over You 06:38 4. My Old Flame 04:58 5. Cheese Cake 07:05 6. Edward Lee 08:03 7.
Somewhere in the Night 06:22 8. Yesterdays 06:34 9. I’ll Wait and Pray 08:13 10.
Full House 06:16

**Jimmy Cobb – Drums**
 **Harold Mabern – Piano** **Peter Bernstein – Guitar** **
John Webber – Bass**

![Image result for Jimmy Cobb - This I Dig of You](https://i0.wp.com/cdn2.jazztimes.
com/2019/08/15_Jimmy-Cobb.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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