Paul Chambers

Paul Chambers
Birth name	Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr.
Born	April 22, 1935(1935-04-22)
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	January 4, 1969 (aged 33)
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Double bassist
Instruments	Double bass
Labels	Blue Note Records, Prestige Records, Verve Records, Riverside Records
Associated acts	Miles Davis Quintet

Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was one of the most influential jazz bassists of the 20th century. A prominent figure in many rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic improvisations.^[1]

Biography

Born in Pittsburgh on April 22, 1935, Chambers was raised in Detroit following the death of his mother. He began playing music with several of his schoolmates; the baritone horn was his first instrument.^[1] Later he took up the tuba. "I got along pretty well, but it's quite a job to carry it around in those long parades, and I didn't like the instrument that much." Chambers became a string bassist around 1949.^[1] His formal bass training got going in earnest in 1952, when he began taking lessons with a bassist in the Detroit Symphony. Chambers did some classical work himself, with a group called the Detroit String Band that was, in effect, a rehearsal symphony orchestra. Studying at Cass Tech. off and on from 1952 to 1955, he played in Cass' own symphony, and in various other student groups, one of which had him playing baritone saxophone. By the time he left for New York at the invitation of Paul Quinichette, he had absorbed a working knowledge of many instruments.^[1]

Jazz bass players were largely limited to timekeeping until, in the late 1930s, Duke Ellington's bassist Jimmy Blanton transformed the instrument's role. Chambers was about 15 when he started to listen to Charlie Parker and Bud Powell, his first jazz influences. Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown were the first bassists he admired, and these were followed by Percy Heath, Milt Hinton and Wendell Marshall for their rhythm section work, and Charles Mingus and George Duvivier for their technical prowess and for their efforts in broadening the scope of jazz bass. Blanton, the perennial poll winner, was his all-time favorite. Playing his first gig at one of the little bars in the Hastings Street area, he was soon doing club jobs with Thad Jones, Barry Harris and others.

From 1954 on through 1955, he gained significance touring with such musicians as Bennie Green, Paul Quinichette, George Wallington, J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding. In 1955 he joined the Miles Davis quintet, staying on with the group until 1963 and appearing on many classic albums, including Kind of Blue. One of Chambers's most noted performances was on that album's first cut, "So What", which opens with a brief duet featuring Chambers and pianist Bill Evans. From 1963 until 1966 Chambers played with the Wynton Kelly trio. He freelanced frequently as a sideman for other important names in jazz throughout his career. During the course of his lifetime Paul Chambers developed addictions to both alcohol and heroin. On January 4, 1969 he died of tuberculosis at the premature age of 33.

Influence

Paul Chambers is a prominent entry in the list of bass players since Blanton who have contributed to extending the role of the instrument in jazz. Others include Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, Gary Peacock, Slam Stewart, Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, Stanley Clarke and Percy Heath.

His accompaniment and solos with Davis and other leaders remain distinctive and influential. He and Slam Stewart were among the first jazz bassists to perform arco or bowed features.^{[citation needed]} From his role in the Davis band, Chambers was the bassist in two famed rhythm sections. The first, with Red Garland on piano and Philly Joe Jones on drums, came to be known as "the rhythm section," that name featured on a celebrated album by saxophonist Art Pepper, Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section. The second, with Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb, made many sessions as a unit, recording albums with John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, and by themselves under Kelly's name such as Kelly Blue.

Paul Chambers was in great demand as a session musician, and played on myriad albums during the period he was active including such landmarks as Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners, Coltrane's Giant Steps, and Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth. Many musicians wrote songs dedicated to Paul. Long-time fellow Davis bandmate, pianist Red Garland, wrote the tune "The P.C. Blues", and Coltrane's song "Mr. P.C." is named after Chambers. Tommy Flanagan wrote "Big Paul", which was performed on the John Coltrane and Kenny Burrell Prestige 1958 LP. Max Roach wrote a drum solo called "Five For Paul", on his 1977 "impossible to find" drum solo LP recorded in Japan, and Sonny Rollins wrote "Paul's Pal" for him as well.

Discography

As a leader

• Chambers' Music (Aladdin/Jazz West, 1956)
• Whims Of Chambers (Blue Note, 1956)
• Paul Chambers Quintet (Blue Note, 1957)
• Bass on Top (Blue Note, 1957)
• Go (Vee-Jay, 1959)
• 1st Bassman (Vee-Jay, 1960)
• High Step (Blue Note, 1956) (w/John Coltrane)
• The East/West Controversy (Xanadu, 1957) (w/Hampton Hawes)
• We Three (Prestige/New Jazz, 1958) (w/Roy Haynes & Phineas Newborn)
• Ease It (Charly/Affinity, 1959) (w/Julian "Cannonball" Adderley)
• Just Friends (Charly/Le Jazz, 1959) (w/Julian "Cannonball" Adderley)

As sideman

Cannonball Adderley

• Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (EmArcy, 1955)
• Cannonball Adderley Quintet In Chicago (Mercury, 1959)
• Cannonball Takes Charge (Riverside, 1959)
• Cannonball and Coltrane (Phillips, 1965)

Nat Adderley

• Introducing Nat Adderley (Mercury/Wing, 1955); reissued as Them Adderleys (Limelight, 1966)
• Naturally! (Jazzland, 1961)

Toshiko Akiyoshi

• The Toshiko Trio (Storyville, 1956)
• Toshiko Mariano and her Big Band (Vee-Jay, 1964)

Lorez Alexandria

• Alexandria The Great (Impulse!, 1964)

Chet Baker

• Chet (Riverside, 1959)

Tina Brooks

• Back To The Tracks (Blue Note, 1960)

Kenny Burrell

• Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
• John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1957)
• Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane (Prestige, 1958)

Sonny Clark

• Sonny's Crib (Blue Note, 1957)
• Sonny Clark Trio (Blue Note, 1957)
• Cool Struttin' (Blue Note, 1958)
• Blues In The Night (Blue Note, 1958)
• My Conception (Blue Note, 1959)

Jimmy Cleveland

• Introducing Jimmy Cleveland And His All Stars (EmArcy, 1955)

John Coltrane

• Blue Train (Blue Note, 1957)
• Coltrane (Prestige, 1957)
• Bahia (Prestige, 1958)
• Black Pearls (Prestige, 1958)
• Lush Life (Prestige, 1958)
• Settin' The Pace (Prestige, 1958)
• Traneing In (Prestige, 1958)
• Soultrane (Prestige, 1958)
• Stardust (Prestige, 1958)
• The Believer (Prestige, 1958)
• The Last Trane (Prestige, 1958)
• (w/Milt Jackson) Bags and Trane (Atlantic, 1960)
• Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960)
• (w/Julian "Cannonball" Adderley) Cannonball and Coltrane (Phillips, 1965)

Miles Davis

• Miles (Prestige, 1955)
• 'Round About Midnight (Columbia, 1955)
• Cookin' (Prestige, 1956)
• Relaxin' (Prestige, 1956)
• Steamin' (Prestige, 1956)
• Workin' (Prestige, 1956)
• Collectors' Items (Prestige, 1956)
• Miles Ahead (Columbia, 1957)
• Milestones (Columbia, 1958)
• Porgy and Bess (Columbia, 1958)
• Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959)
• Sketches of Spain (Columbia, 1960)
• Someday My Prince Will Come (Columbia, 1961)
• Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1962)

Kenny Dorham

• Blue Spring (Riverside, 1959)
• Quiet Kenny (Prestige, 1959)
• Whistle Stop (Blue Note, 1961)

Kenny Drew

• Kenny Drew Trio (Riverside, 1956)

Bill Evans

• On Green Dolphin Street (Riverside, 1959)

Gil Evans

• Gil Evans & Ten (Prestige, 1957)
• The Complete Pacific Jazz Sessions' (Pacific Jazz, 1958)
• The Individualism of Gil Evans (Verve, 1964)

Curtis Fuller

• Curtis Fuller with Red Garland (Prestige, 1957)
• Curtis Fuller Jazztette with Benny Golson (Savoy, 1959)

Red Garland

• A Garland of Red (Prestige, 1956)
• Dig It! (Prestige, 1957)
• Groovy (Prestige, 1957)
• Red Garland Revisited! (Prestige, 1957)
• Red Garland's Piano (Prestige, 1957)
• P.C. Blues (Prestige, 1957)
• Can't See For Lookin' (Prestige, 1958)
• It's a Blue World (Prestige, 1958)
• Manteca (Prestige, 1958)
• All Kinds of Weather (Prestige, 1959)
• Red in Bluesville (Prestige, 1959)

Grant Green

• First Session (Blue Note, 1960)

Herbie Hancock

• Inventions and Dimensions (Blue Note, 1963)

Barry Harris

• Bull's Eye (Fantasy, 1968)

Dexter Gordon

• Dexter Calling (Blue Note, 1961)

Benny Golson

• Benny Golson's New York Scene (Contemporary, 1957)
• The Modern Touch (Riverside, 1958)
• Groovin' With Golson (Prestige, 1959)
• Turning Point (Mercury, 1962)

Johnny Griffin

• A Blowing Session (Blue Note, 1957)
• The Congregation (Blue Note, 1957)

Joe Henderson

• Four (Verve, 1968)
• Straight, No Chaser (Verve, 1968)

Freddie Hubbard

• Here to Stay (Blue Note, 1962)

Milt "Bags" Jackson

• Bags and Trane (Atlantic, (w/John Coltrane) 1960)
• Statements (Impulse!, 1961)

John Jenkins

• John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1957)

J. J. Johnson

• The Eminent J.J. Johnson, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1955)
• Trombone For 2 (w/Kai Winding) (Columbia, 1955)
• The Great Kai & J. J. (w/Kai Winding)(Impulse!, 1960)

Philly Joe Jones

• Philly Joe's Beat (Atlantic, 1960)
• Philly Joe Jones & Elvin Jones Together! (Atlantic, 1964)

Wynton Kelly

• Piano (Riverside, 1958)
• Kelly Blue (Riverside, 1959)
• Kelly at Midnite (Vee-Jay, 1960)
• Kelly Great (Vee-Jay, 1960)
• Wynton Kelly! (Vee-Jay, 1961)
• Comin' in the Back Door (Verve, 1963)

Abbey Lincoln

• That's Him (Riverside, 1957)

Jackie McLean

• McLean's Scene (Prestige/New Jazz, 1957)
• Jackie's Bag (Blue Note, 1959)
• New Soil (Blue Note, 1959)
• Capuchin Swing (Blue Note, 1960)

Blue Mitchell

• Out of the Blue (Riverside, 1958)

Hank Mobley

• Tenor Conclave (Prestige, 1956)
• Peckin' Time (Blue Note, 1958)
• Roll Call (Blue Note, 1960)
• Soul Station (Blue Note, 1960)
• Workout (Blue Note, 1961)
• Another Workout (Blue Note, 1961)
• The Turnaround (Blue Note, 1965)

Thelonious Monk

• Brilliant Corners (Riverside, 1956)

Lee Morgan

• Lee Morgan Sextet (Blue Note, 1956)
• Lee Morgan Vol. 3 (Blue Note, 1957)
• City Lights (Blue Note, 1957)
• The Cooker (Blue Note, 1957)
• Lee-Way (Blue Note, 1960)
• Here's Lee Morgan (Vee-Jay, 1960)
• Charisma (Blue Note, 1966)
• The Rajah (Blue Note, 1966)

Wes Montgomery

• Full House (Riverside, 1962)
• Smokin' at the Half Note (Verve, 1965)
• Willow Weep for Me (Verve, 1969)

Oliver Nelson

• The Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1961)

Phineas Newborn, Jr.

• A World of Piano (Contemporary, 1961)

Art Pepper

• Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (Contemporary, 1957)
• Gettin' Together (Contemporary, 1960)

Bud Powell

• Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 3) (Blue Note, 1957)
• The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 5) (Blue Note, 1958)

Ike Quebec

• Blue And Sentimental (Blue Note, 1961)

Sonny Red

• Out of the Blue (Blue Note, 1960)

Freddie Redd

• Shades of Redd (Blue Note, 1960)
• Redd's Blues (Blue Note, 1961)

Sonny Rollins

• Tenor Madness (Prestige, 1956)
• Sonny Rollins: Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1957)
• Sound of Sonny (Riverside, 1957)

Louis Smith

• Smithville (Blue Note, 1958)

Frank Strozier

• Fantastic (Koch Jazz, 1960)

Art Taylor

• A.T.'s Delight (Blue Note, 1960)

Clark Terry

• Serenade to a Bus Seat (Riverside, 1957)

Kai Winding

• The Trombone Sound (Columbia, 1955)
• Trombone For 2 (w/J. J. Johnson)(Columbia, 1955)
• The Great Kai & J. J. (w/J. J. Johnson)(Impulse!, 1960)

References