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Meet Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar
Rotary’s president from Sweden takes on a second century of service
Julie A. Jacob
Special to The Rotarian
Rotary International President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar believes that
anything worth doing is worth doing with complete commitment. In fact,
when it comes to Rotary, Stenhammar will give the shirt off his back to
help. Literally.
President Stenhammar
plants trees wherever he goes to demonstrate the true concerns of
Rotarians for the protection, preservation and rejuvenation of nature
and the environment.
Carolyn E. Jones, appointed by Stenhammar as the first female trustee of
the Rotary Foundation of RI, recalls his contribution during a visit as
the president’s representative to the District 5010 (Canada, Russia,
United States) conference in 1998. The district was just short of its
Rotary Foundation donation goal, so the district representatives decided
to hold an impromptu auction at its banquet to raise the remaining
funds. Stenhammar promptly offered his shirt for the event. The elegant,
handmade Italian dress shirt fetched US$1,500.
That dedication and willingness to help his fellow Rotarians isn’t
surprising to those who know him. Stenhammar’s friends describe him as a
man deeply dedicated to Rotary, a true friend, a cultured man and an
avid outdoorsman, a man of kindness and humor, a decisive leader, a man
committed to doing what he believes is right, a person who does what it
takes to get the job done.
President Stenhammar and
Monica with Rotarians at the dedication of the Paul Harris Orthodontic
Center, a cooperative Rotary club project, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
(October 2005)
“He is generous, he is playful ... on a more serious
side, he has an ability to communicate and listen and relate to people
from other countries, places and cultures,” says Jones.
During an interview at Rotary World Headquarters, Stenhammar talked
about what drew him to Rotary and his plans for his presidential year.
Stenhammar was dressed in a blue shirt and yellow tie, the colors he has
chosen for the 2005-06 Rotary year. He has the lightly tanned face and
trim build of a sports enthusiast. He is courteous, gracious and
soft-spoken, and articulates his ideas with clarity and precision. Even
in a wide-ranging discussion he rarely needs to pause to collect his
thoughts. He occasionally emphasizes a point by tapping his fingers on
the table or steepling his fingers together. He exudes energy and
confidence.
Stenhammar says his reason for joining Rotary was simple: It offered a
way to give to others some of the same opportunities in life that he has
enjoyed.
“I’ve always had food on the table, my whole education was paid for, I
have never suffered anything, and I thought this maybe was an
opportunity to give back,” says Stenhammar.
President Stenhammar and
wife Monica greet Youth Exchange students in Minnesota, USA. (December
2005)
Even as a child, Stenhammar wanted to help others.
His mother was Norwegian, and during World War II he remembers helping
his family to collect clothes and goods to send to his mother’s family
in Norway. Stenhammar was born in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1935, and raised
in the port city, Sweden’s second largest, on the country’s west coast.
His father, who owned a prosperous food brokerage business, was also a
Rotarian for many years. “He came home and talked about Rotary, but I
didn’t pay much attention to it. I was young,” says Stenhammar.
It would be another 30 years before Stenhammar reconnected with Rotary.
During those years he completed college and built a successful career
with his family’s business. He had originally planned to become an
architect, he says, but quickly realized that a career focused on bricks
and blueprints did not interest him. He was more drawn to the dynamic,
interpersonal field of business. His father invited him to join the
family food brokerage business, Gust F. Bratt AB.
On his first assignment, he was sent to Fresno, Calif., USA, during 1957
to work for various food companies so he could gain firsthand experience
in U.S. business operations. The year abroad gave him a valuable
education in learning about the corporate world and living in a new land
and culture. Stenhammar became friends with another young Swede, and he
fondly recalls their adventures in exploring California. “We were
tourists almost every weekend,” Stenhammar says.
After his year in California, Stenhammar returned to Sweden, where he
worked in sales at Bratt for 12 years before buying the company in 1972.
His sales experience gave him the chance to network with people all over
Sweden - including Rotarians. “It’s fun to go out and talk to Rotarians
about what we do because we have a tremendous product,” says Stenhammar.
“To be able to sell to them management ideas, it is just wonderful to do
that. To sell quality is not that difficult.”
A few years after Stenhammar returned to Sweden, he met and married his
wife of 43 years, Monica. His wife, who gained a keen interest in nature
from her veterinarian father, is retired from her career as a physical
therapist, specializing in orthopedics and sports medicine. She was very
active in the World Wide Fund for Nature (which is also known as WWF and
uses a distinctive panda-bear logo). Together they enjoy sailing the
west coast of Sweden in their 34-foot sailboat, biking, cross-country
skiing and walking. The couple have two grown sons and three
grandchildren.
They split their time between a condo in Göteborg and a summer cottage
along Sweden’s west coast. It was the couple’s love of tennis that
introduced Stenhammar to Rotary in 1974. He and Monica had purchased a
house outside of Göteborg located next to a tennis club, which they soon
joined.
The club’s chairman, a member of the same Rotary club that Stenhammar’s
father had been president of 30 years earlier, invited Stenhammar to
become a Rotarian.
Stenhammar immediately became involved in the club’s projects. Within a
year, he was elected secretary.
“I have a tendency not to just sit back,” says Stenhammar. “I like to be
active.”
He took on the task of sorting through 15 years of club records and
archives, in which he discovered a two-minute silent film. The montage
was directed by Victor Hasselblad - famous for his cameras - documenting
Paul Harris’s visit to the club back in the 1930s. Stenhammar arranged
to have the film transferred to videotape and donated to Rotary
headquarters.
Stenhammar applied that same sense of energy and purpose to all of the
positions he has held in his 31-year career at Rotary. These include
club president, district governor, chair of the Sweden Rotary Youth
Exchange Foundation, PolioPlus national advocacy adviser, chair of the
Rotary International Youth Service Committee, and Rotary International
director.
In his role as PolioPlus national advocacy adviser, Stenhammar
tirelessly worked on behalf of the Rotary Foundation to secure a
donation for the program from the Swedish government. After five years
of patient effort, the Swedish government donated US$30 million in
December 2004 to PolioPlus. “That teaches us never to give up,” he says
simply.
Rotarians who have served with Stenhammar speak highly of his management
skills and gift for building personal connections.
“Carl-Wilhelm has always proved to have a thorough knowledge of all
Rotary matters, with a knack for realism. He always cares for Rotary’s
image in all official and unofficial circumstances,” says Michel Dumont,
past governor of District 1620 (Belgium), who has known Stenhammar for
20 years. “He is a talented speaker whose charisma equals his human and
leadership qualities. He is an easygoing person with a talent for
listening. He has a friendly word for everyone, from youngsters to
experienced Rotarians.”
Stenhammar has an impressive list of goals that he hopes to achieve
during his presidency: expand Rotary’s Youth Exchange program, boost
membership by at least one net member per club, raise public awareness
of Rotary, increase the involvement of women and younger Rotarians, and
invite Cuba back into the Rotary family.
He has already put his stamp on Rotary’s future leadership by appointing
women to chair the Literary Resource Group, the new Public Image
Resource Group, and the Membership Development and Retention Committee.
He has also broken ground by appointing Jones as the first female
trustee of the Rotary Foundation. He hopes these actions, combined with
a call to clubs and districts to elect women as presidents and district
governors, will pave the way for a future female RI president and boost
the percentage of female Rotarians.
As a retired business owner, Stenhammar views these appointments as
simply good business for Rotary. “I’m sending the message that there is
a place for women in Rotary,” says Stenhammar. “I see this as a
short-term investment for a long-term profit.”
He mentions with pride the Rotaract Club of Göteborg, whose male-female
membership is split exactly in half. “We hope to get all of them
involved in the club, that’s our big plan,” says Stenhammar, who is an
advocate of inviting younger people to join, noting that Paul Harris was
only 36 when he founded Rotary.
“What Carl-Wilhelm realizes is that before a zone nominating committee
nominates someone, they have to have a track record,” says Jones. “He’s
giving some qualified women a chance to have something to put on their
applications, should they apply to be Rotary directors.”
Stenhammar is also passionate about another goal - to increase the
number of Youth Exchange students so that more young people can enjoy
the same opportunity he had of exploring a new culture and country. If
every club sponsored a Youth Exchange student, he said, Rotary could
quadruple the number of exchanges from the current 8,000 to 32,000. He
acknowledges that smaller clubs may not be able to afford to sponsor a
Youth Exchange, but he says that larger clubs could compensate by
sponsoring more than one student. Stenhammar also hopes to achieve his
dream of bringing Cuba back into the Rotary fold.
A committee met in April to discuss the possibility, and RI has received
a statement of support from the U.S. State Department. He also hopes
that one day soon China will join the Rotary world.
“I would like to see the whole world [be a part of Rotary],” says
Stenhammar. As for now, he says, “We have over 200 countries and
geographical areas, and I would like to see them all.”
He will also encourage clubs to participate in water projects, which he
has merged into the health and hunger resource group. He combined water
with the other two because he believes clean water is inextricably
linked with hunger and health. Clean water is essential for survival,
sanitation, and cooking, he notes, and polluted water threatens millions
of people.
Stenhammar’s goals for Rotary are ambitious, and he stresses that the
organization can’t achieve its goals on its own. That’s why cooperation,
along with continuity, are core elements of his presidency. He envisions
Rotary teaming up with other organizations on water and youth exchange
programs.
“There are over 100 countries and organizations that work toward the
same thing, clean water for everyone,” says Stenhammar. “By joining
forces we can reach further. I believe in cooperation. That goes for
Youth Exchange, too. If we have a problem or good idea, why not share it
with others?” Continuity is the other priority of his presidency. He is
kicking off Rotary’s second century by reaching back in the past for
this year’s RI theme, Service Above Self.
“I think that covers what we do,” says Stenhammar. “I had a golden
opportunity” to begin the next century by emphasizing the basics. “Why
not start the new century with this old motto?”
At the end of his term, Stenhammar will host Rotary’s 2006 convention
from June 11-14, which will be held jointly in Malmö, Sweden, and
Copenhagen, Denmark. The pre-convention activities will take place in
Malmö, and the convention itself in Copenhagen. The cities are linked by
a bridge, which provided the inspiration for the convention’s theme,
“Bridging the World with Rotary.”
“It’s an unexpected gift to serve as president when the convention is
held in one’s own country,” he says, beaming with enthusiasm at the
thought of the Malmö / Copenhagen event.
It will be a convention of firsts, notes Stenhammar, ticking them off:
first convention in a Nordic country, first one held simultaneously in
two countries, first one in Rotary’s second century.
“It’s intentional that international is in our name,” he says. “Our
organization is built of fellowship and friendship.”
When asked what is the biggest impact that Rotary has on the world,
Stenhammar replies without hesitation: leadership.
“We are a leadership organization,” he says. That leadership extends
beyond the Rotary membership to the Youth Exchange students,
Ambassadorial Scholars, GSE participants, World Peace Fellows, and
others who participate in Rotary’s programs, he says. Rotary teaches
them about Service Above Self and international fellowship, and they
carry those lessons with them when they assume leadership positions in
their own careers.
Stenhammar’s year as a president-elect was a busy one - in January 2005
alone he went to Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong - and his year as president
will be “very intense,” he says. He estimates he will travel about eight
months of the year.
His schedule will give him little time to meet the family and enjoy the
peaceful recreational activities that he and his wife love so much:
walking, and sailing their boat among the spectacular archipelagos
scattered off the coasts of Sweden and Norway. Instead, he will be busy
charting Rotary’s course, powered by the winds of the organization’s
past and pointed toward its future. As Rotary sails into its second
century, Rotarians can be confident that the course will be a steady
one.
Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar
Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, a food broker for
international products, is the former owner of Gust. F. Bratt AB. During
his active business career he traveled all over the world. In addition,
he has been a member of the boards of several companies and served as
chairman of the board of a local private school.
 Carl-Wilhelm
has been a Rotarian since 1974. He immediately became involved in all
levels of Rotary and has held numerous positions at the club, district,
and international levels. His district service has included chairing the
Youth Exchange and member elections committees and the Sweden Rotary
Youth Exchange Foundation. He was also a treasurer of the Rotary
International District 2360 Student Home Foundation (RISH) and served as
district governor in 1987-88.
He began international service to Rotary in 1991 with an appointment to
the Youth Service Committee, which he chaired in 1993, followed by
positions as regional coordinator of the Youth Service Task Force and
moderator at numerous Rotary International institutes. He represented
the RI president many times at district conferences in locations
stretching from Finland to Africa and the United States to India. He was
an RI director in 1996-98, and as such was a member of the Executive
Committee, chair of the Finance Committee of the Board, and vice chair
of the Audit Committee.
He has been a member of the Audit and Operations Review Committee of RI
and a member of the 2001 San Antonio Convention Committee. He was also
moderator of the 1999-2000 Regional Magazine Editors Seminar, chair of
the Permanent Fund Committee for Europe and RIBI, chair of the
Presidential Celebration in Stockholm 2003, general coordinator for the
2003-04 Literacy and Education Task Force, PolioPlus national advocacy
adviser, and member of the Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force.
Carl-Wilhelm has been married to Monica since 1962. Monica was a
physiotherapist by profession, specializing in orthopedics and sports
medicine. During the last 10 years, she has worked as a volunteer with
the World Wide Fund for Nature (known in North America as the World
Wildlife Fund and recognized by the panda logo).
Monica and President Stenhammar have two sons, two grandsons, and one
granddaughter.
Rotary International President makes historic visit to Pattaya
Community and youth projects
top inspection list
Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, president of Rotary
International, the world’s largest service organization, arrives in
Pattaya today on an official visit to meet Rotarians in the central and
eastern regions of Thailand. His historic visit will further the cause
of Rotary by the advancement of international understanding, goodwill,
and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional
persons united in the ideal of service.
 Carl-Wilhelm
Stenhammar,
RI Rotary International
President Carl-Wilhelm arrives from Chiang Mai where he inspected the
Earth Dam project initiated by Rotary Cubs in District 3360 RI, to
commemorate and celebrate the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King’s
accession to the throne.
Pattaya is the last leg of his visit to Thailand before heading off to
chair the Rotary International Convention to be held from June 11-14 in
the two Scandinavian cities across the Øresund - Copenhagen, Denmark and
Malmö, Sweden.
Whilst in Pattaya, the RI president will be taken on an inspection tour
of Rotary projects in the community including the vocational school for
the disabled, school for the blind and the home for street children.
President Carl-Wilhelm will also attend an inter-city meeting at the
Town in Town Hotel, attended by Rotarians from the central, north
eastern and eastern regions of Thailand.
At the meeting President Stenhammar will recognize and thank Rotarians
for their dedication and sacrifices in upholding the honorable ideals of
Service above Self.
Miss Tiffany Universe crown goes to 22-year-old Ratravee
A 22-year-old student, Ratravee Jirapraphakul was
crowned Miss Tiffany Universe 2006 in a competition that received huge
media coverage not only in Thailand but also around the world.
 Nong
Tong sheds tears of joy when the master of ceremonies announced her name
as the winner of Miss Tiffany Universe 2006.
Although to the casual viewer the event appeared to be a conventional
beauty contest, the requisite for all the participants was that they had
been born male. Tiffany’s, famed as one of the greatest of all
transvestite cabarets, has been staging this event every year since
1998, and the contest is one of Pattaya’s most flamboyant attractions.
Forty-nine contestants from all over Thailand had initially gathered on
May 15 at Tiffany’s Theater, when the first heats took place. The girls
displayed their talents in an atmosphere of great excitement, and from
this the judges selected 30 contestants to go through to the finals.
Over the next few days the 30 competitors toured Pattaya, calling into
the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and then going on to the Hard Rock Hotel
where they joined in fun and games around the pool.
They paid a visit to the Fairtex Sport Club and Resort where they met
the famous star of Muay Thai, Nong Toom, herself a transsexual whose
life story was the subject of the hit movie Beautiful Boxer.
 Rat-Ravee
Jiraprapakul (Nong Tong) is all smiles as she is crowned Miss Tiffany
Universe 2006 by chairman of the Tiffany’s Universe 2006 organizing
committee, Dr. Seri Wongmontha.
For the girls it was a great treat to meet and talk to Nong Toom
personally, and the former star boxer showed them some Thai boxing
moves. The girls even managed a little sparring in the ring before
moving on to another Fairtex attraction, Devil’s Peak, Thailand’s
highest man-made rock-climbing wall. The girls were by now in high
spirits as they teased and laughed at their friends’ attempts at scaling
the wall.
After pictures and a flower presentation by Fairtex executive general
manager Bart Van Der Molen, the girls were taken for welcome
refreshments and time to relax a little.
To bring the day to an end Miss Alisa Phantusak, assistant managing
director of Tiffany’s announced the winner of the Miss Friendship
contest, number 9, Tanya Tararak, who gave her thanks to all, and
received applause and cheers from all the other girls.
 The
queen and her court: Miss Tiffany’s Universe 2006 Rat-Ravee Jiraprapakul
(center), first runner up Sophananat Utomkul (right) and second runner
up Aphirada Terachanukul (left).
The contest proper got underway on Friday May 19. Guests arriving in
Tiffany’s lobby were treated lavishly to hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and
entertained by a magician. Miss International Queen Mimi Marks arrived
in a stunning gown and posed for the crowds of press representatives. On
stage, chairman of the Tiffany’s Universe 2006 organizing committee Dr
Seri Wongmontha gave the opening speech describing the history of
Tiffany’s, and then the show began.
The emcees for the evening were Noi and Duk, otherwise known as
Bussakorn Pornwannasiriwej and Phanudech Watthanasuchart.
A magical dream was the theme of the fairytale stage set with rainbows
and stars where the 30 finalists made their first appearance in a
snowflake design routine. Then the Tiffany dancers put on their usual
dazzling performances with themes from around the world, which was
followed by the girls in the most breathtaking evening gowns, an array
of amazing colors and sparkles.
The contestants staged a
beautiful show.
Excitement grew as the judges made their decisions
and the final 10 contestants were chosen. The next stage of the contest
must have been one of the most nerve-racking for the girls as they were
asked questions, and had to think quickly to give clever answers to
impress the judges. The audience gave them all their full support with
applause and cheers.
The show then continued with a Japanese routine in front of a stage
glowing with lanterns, while the judges made their choices for the final
three contestants.
At last, the moment had arrived for the final three contestants to be
announced. Numbers 10, 13 and 20 were called and the audience by now was
wild with excitement, screaming, whistling and cheering for their
friends and favorites.
Number 13, Aphirada Terachanukul was announced as the second runner-up;
next was number 10, Sophananat Utomkul as first runner up, and finally
22-year-old Ratravee Jirapraphakul was crowned Miss Tiffany Universe
2006.
An emotional Ratravee said she was delighted to win “the most important
title for transvestites and transsexuals in Thailand”. More importantly,
she said, her parents will be proud that she won this title. As well as
the coveted Miss Tiffany’s Universe crown, Ratravee won a car and a
cheque for two and a half thousand US dollars
(From left) Chanyuth
Hengtrakul, MD of Sophon Cable TV Pattaya Co., Ltd, Mimi Marks, Miss
International Queen 2005, Rewat Polluk-In, deputy chairman of Chonburi
Provincial Administration Organization and Sutham Phantusak, MD of
Tiffany’s Show Pattaya mingle during the event.
Honored guests and the
organizing committee pose with all the winners.
By the light of a silvery moon
Caspian Pike
Just picture the scene. After a day of sporadic storms, the clouds
appear to evaporate and simultaneously the sun begins to set;
ultramarine violet moving into cadmium red on a cerulean blue canvas.
Around me, myriad glowing grapevines, eagerly soaking up the bounteous
gifts nature has bestowed, run in ordered channels towards a scene of
divine imagination. The fruits of man’s (and woman’s) labour, if you
will. A consummate lake, surely designed with meditation in mind,
stretches out to provide a placid backdrop to an unpretentious
amphitheatre, embedded with comfortable wood and grass terracing. As the
last sunlight of the day disappears, the floodlit fountain rising from
the lake’s centre, demands attention. Around us, the spectrum green of
the landscape turns to darkness and we are left in the shadow of the
Buddha. Then, a new light source brings with it awe and expectation. As
the full moon rises, as if in celebration of its ascendancy, the music
of the night begins.
 Billy
Cobham drew a mystical array of rhythms from his drums, betrayed an
almost languid lightness of touch, that was utterly captivating.
“Bangkok Connection” who play a few nights a week at Saxophone Pub in
Bangkok, were smoother than soap. On a stage adjacent to the main venue,
they crooned with elegance, verve, swerve and dash, equally at home with
established ballads as they were with pacey, hip-hop numbers. They
seemed to intuitively sense the changing mood of an audience which
relished an early evening in this sanctuary of cool, chilling out with
the aid of icy beer and local and international wines. As anticipation
grew, with the rise of the full moon, “Bangkok Connection” brought us to
a feverish plateau of expectation.
I was introduced to impresario Marc Bolam, director of ‘Enlightened
Planet’, a near native of Thailand, whose passion for Jazz had steered
him impressively towards a career not entirely consistent with the more
traditional expectations of a high achieving Western family. Yet here he
was, bringing Billy Cobham’s Culture Mix to Silverlake (thence onwards
to Singapore). He was rightly proud and I might say, ever and equally
attentive to the needs of the press corps and the fans; and the band.
The rain showers of earlier in the day had necessitated conferring some
tender loving care on the instruments of Billy Cobham’s desire – the
drums. At this level of performance, the slightest snag with the snare
can distort pitch (although perhaps not to the untrained ear), but Billy
Cobham, as we were about to discover, hasn’t become arguably the world’s
greatest living drummer by overlooking attention to detail.
When it was done, and the
encores had ended, Billy Cobham spent time with the people who had come
to spend their time with him.
When Billy Cobham introduced the Culture Mix, after a
rousing opening number in which steel drummer Junior Gill set a
sensitive yet dynamic tone to the piece, he did so with an air of
humility and candour which reminded the audience of the egalitarian
routes of Jazz. He promised that the Culture Mix would ‘do their very
best for everyone who had taken the trouble and spent their time and
money coming to see them.’ A sentiment as refreshing as the venue itself
and one which was echoed by Silverlake’s glamorous and generous first
couple, Surachai Tangjaitrong and his enchanting wife, Suphansa.
Surachai looked absolutely in his element, as he soaked up the tunes,
whilst looking forward to a ‘jam’ with the band after the show. He is by
all accounts, suitably elastic on the piano.
The steel drum of
Trinidadian Junior Gill felt like a happy heartbeat, whose pace would
suddenly race in excitement.
The show moved seamlessly along a familiar
jazz-fusion groove, appealing to the deepest, most elemental senses,
demanding that our bodies and minds join in intuitive symbiosis. Once
mesmerised, the Culture Mix could take us anywhere they wanted us to go
and we willingly went with them. Every crescendo felt euphoric, every
diminuendo was a search for inner peace. The steel drum of Trinidadian
Junior Gill felt like a happy heartbeat, whose pace would suddenly race
in excitement. Body and posture as erect and proper as a street lamp,
Gill never lost his consummate control of either his intention or his
medium. His was a bewitching performance, hands a blur, his relationship
with the rest of the band apparently innate. On the more sensual, slower
moments, his steel drum reverberated like a giant Ranart around
Silverlake.
Bangkok Connection crooned
with elegance, verve, swerve and dash, equally at home with established
ballads as they were with pacey, hip-hop numbers.
Other than German bassist Stefan Rademacher, who kept
bewildering tempo with staccato, slap and slide, their was a lot of
‘big’ hair. I tend to notice little things like that, especially when
Brazilian percussionist Marco Lobo’s canopy of locks apparently acquired
a life of its own, moving a lambada to his instrument’s quick-step. In
homage to equality, Billy Cobham gave the Culture Mix every opportunity
to express themselves; that’s Jazz of course, but it was possible to
detect genuine respect and interest in each member’s solos. Like all
great cosmopolitans, they celebrated their differences. If I hadn’t
known that French guitarist Jean-Marie Ecay was from France, I am sure I
would have guessed from his Gallic nuance, his romantic, rhythmic,
rolling of the wrist, which sent electric waves of subtlety on a journey
to the stars. Finnish pianist Jukkis Uotila was understated, a soft
scent blowing on the wind, a gentle cushion on which to relax, but
nonetheless rich in funk.
Bangkok Connection was
“smoother than soap”.
It was a great band. But every great band has a great
leader. And the band knew it and we knew it too. There is a stage when a
great artist reaches a point of enlightenment and becomes a teacher in
the purest, most spiritual sense of the word. And when the artist paints
his pieces, you watch and you listen. For instruments of such obvious
power, the delicacy with which Billy Cobham drew a mystical array of
rhythms from his drums, betrayed an almost languid lightness of touch,
that was utterly captivating. He weaved intricate patterns around the
night sky and sent pulsating rivulets of beat into the veins of the
audience, who moved as one, as if in a trance.
And when it was done, and the encores had ended, Billy Cobham spent time
with the people who had come to spend their time with him. He gave
generously, of his music and his soul and all the young and not so young
dudes who were there that night, loved him for it.
Culture Mix could take us
anywhere they wanted us to go, and we willingly went with them.
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