Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham plays Barbican Hall on Monday 23 November, starting at 20:00. He'll be joined by his Time Machine band: Victor Cisternas on bass, Rocco Zifarelli on guitar, Gary Husband on keyboards, Bjorn Arko on saxophone, Andrea Andreoli on trombone and Antonio Baldino on trumpet. The set mixes his own catalogue with jazz and soul standards.

If you've come across the name but aren't sure where to place him, Cobham is one of the most influential drummers in jazz. Born in Colón, Panama in 1944 and raised in New York, he helped invent jazz fusion drumming in the early 1970s. He played with Miles Davis on the electric albums at the turn of the decade before joining John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, where he played a kit twice the ordinary size and pioneered a powerful style blending jazz, rock and funk. He was the first drummer to unseat Buddy Rich in the Down Beat polls and was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987.

Now in his 80s, he's still an active live performer. His recordings have been sampled by two generations of producers, most famously by Massive Attack in 'Safe from Harm', which was built around the beat and bassline of 'Stratus' from his debut album Spectrum. That track is a good place to start if you're not familiar with his work.

Standard tickets are from £39, which is £35 plus a £4 transaction fee. Young Barbican tickets for 16-25s are £18, and access tickets start from £39 with a free essential companion ticket if you need one. The gig is at Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS, on Monday 23 November at 20:00.