As a child since my mother was an avid fan of Sinatra's big band work I'd have to say those were seminal recordings but my 1st full-contact exposure to Jazz boils down to one name; Billy Cobham! I remember being totally mesmerized by the group 'Dreams' when I was a teen, and especially with Cobham. In retrospect he became one of the 1st artists whose work I'd follow blindly, if his name was on it, I'd pick it up! This led to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, and his amazing run with the CTI label. The 1st CTI I ever heard was 'California Concert' feat. Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Hank Crawford, George Benson (non-singing!), Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, John Hammond, Airto, & Cobham. Man, I remember just playing that dbl album over and over! Billy was playing with the MO AND practically became the house drummer (along with a fella named Jack DeJohnnete) for CTI, what an amazingly fertile time it was for him. A look at his discography from the early seventies should raise anyone's eyebrows, he was everywhere. He truly opened up SO many musical doors for me. 4ever grateful for Billy Cobham!!;)
