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Paul Chambers

One of the premier bassists in jazz history, Paul Chambers had it all: a beautiful tone, a fluid technique, a great choice of notes, impeccable time and a magnificent sense of swing. He could even take a bowed solo and keep it interesting and in tune.

Paul Chambers was born in Pittsburgh in 1935, and grew up in Detroit, where he became part of the city's growing jazz scene. He moved to New York, where he played in the J.J. Johnson-Kai Winding quintet. He joined Miles Davis' first legendary quintet along with John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Garland, at the age of 20. As the bass player, he complimented Jones perfectly on fast songs and played just well on ballads. He spent the bulk of his prime years (1955-1963) as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, participating in virtually all of Davis' classic recordings of the era. After leaving Davis' group, he continued working with the pianist who replaced Garland in Davis' group, Wynton Kelly, and he did freelance work in New York.

Paul was about 15 when he started to listen to Bird and Bud, his first jazz influences. Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown, the first bassists he admired, were followed in his book by Percy Heath, Milt Hinton and Wendell Marshall for their rhythm section work, Charles Mingus and George Duvivier for their technical powers and for their efforts in broadening the scope of jazz bass. Blanton, of course, is his all-time favorite, the perennial poll winner in his ballot.

Wes Montgomery: Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings

Read "Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
February 20, 2024

La Resonance Records, etichetta californiana legata a un'organizzazione non-profit dedita a preservare l'arte e l'eredità della musica jazz, prosegue instancabile la sua attività di archeologia musicale pubblicando questo doppio CD di Wes Montgomery col trio del pianista Wynton Kelly al famoso club di New York Half Note nel 1965, all'incirca nello stesso periodo delle esibizioni raccolte nell'album Smokin' at the Half Note. I brani contenuti in questa raccolta provengono da cinque diverse date comprese tra il 24 Settembre e la ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: 2nd Session 1956 Revisited

Read "2nd Session 1956 Revisited" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 25, 2023

The Miles Davis Quintet's 2nd Session 1956 Revisited revitalizes the iconic recordings from a pivotal year in jazz history. These original sessions, featuring Davis alongside luminaries like John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, stand as timeless classics that have indelibly shaped the course of jazz.This revisited edition captures the very essence and vitality of those legendary sessions while infusing them with a fresh perspective. The music's hallmark traits--the melodic sophistication and improvisational brilliance--are expertly ...

Album Review

Wes Montgomery: The Complete Full House Recordings

Read "The Complete Full House Recordings" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
December 21, 2023

Wes Montgomery's original Full House album (Riverside, 1962) comprised six tracks; the 1987 CD edition had nine tracks, with alternate takes plus the addition of “Born to be Blue"; the 2007 reissue was expanded to eleven tracks. This complete edition has fourteen tracks, including all of the previously released alternate takes as well as the completely unedited master take of the title tune, with Montgomery's original guitar solo restored. That restoration is the big news for completists but, for everyone ...

Album Review

Phineas Newborn, Jr.: A World of Piano!

Read "A World of Piano!" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
November 21, 2023

Did a critic ever accuse classical concert pianist Martha Argerich of displaying too much technique while playing Ravel? It is hardly an idle question as Argerich, one of the most gifted pianists in history, plays Ravel beautifully precisely because she has the technique to do so. She could not play “Sonatine" or “Gaspard de la Nuit"--fearsomely difficult, say pianists--if she did not. The beauty is inseparable from the technique; and the technique part of the beauty. This is ...

Album Review

Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners

Read "Brilliant Corners" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 19, 2023

Writing about being “lost for words" is not the ideal way of starting a review, but it may be the plain truth. Perhaps Thelonious Monk is an acquired taste. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, this particular release of Brilliant Corners is just that--brilliant.The whole package is superb and really defines Craft Recordings “Small Batch" vinyl series. The technical literature accompanying the recording says “Each edition is cut from its original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet

Read "Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 21, 2023

1955/56 was an inflection point in the career of Miles Davis. The trumpeter and bandleader went from a promising talent to the high profile face of jazz and popular music. The two marathon sessions, May 11 and October 26, 1956, that created Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet along with Cookin', Relaxin' and Steamin' might have been written off by Davis as a mere fulfillment of his contract duties for Prestige Records. He had signed a more lucrative contract with ...

Album Review

Miles Davis Quintet: 2nd Session 1956 Revisited

Read "2nd Session 1956 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
October 31, 2022

Rough round the edges some of the performances might be, but that is part of their real-time, first-take charm. The twelve tracks collected on 2nd Session 1956 Revisited are, nonetheless, arguably the most perfect Miles Davis ever recorded. Over the years they have been issued and reissued, anthologised and repackaged, almost as often as Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. But never with as much attention to sonic detail as on this album, remastered by the ezz-thetics label's Michael ...

135

Interview

Listen to the Bass Player: Part 4, Paul Chambers

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
November 5, 2009

For the new segment of our adventure in letting bassists be our guides, author, critic and sometime Rifftides commentator Larry Kart has a fine idea.

May I suggest, for Part 4, Paul Chambers behind Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb on “So What." Like Heath and LaFaro in their various ways, where Chambers puts “one" is a place where no one who's playing with him literally is, but it's a place that all can touch and play ...
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140

Recording

Mosaic Select Series: Paul Chambers & John Patton

Source: All About Jazz
October 15, 2003

Mosaic Records Announces Two New Releases in Its Mosaic Select Series Featuring the Work of Paul Chambers and John Patton

Following up on its first four releases in its Mosaic Select series (Grachan Moncur, Carmell Jones, Bennie Green and Randy Weston), Mosaic Records is proud to showcase two more great artists, Paul Chambers and John Patton.

Chambers emerged from the fertile Detroit scene and came to New York at age 19. A year later, he was a member of Miles ...
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Music Industry

Mosaic Records The Complete Vee Jay Paul Chambers & Wynton Kelly

Source: All About Jazz

Mosaic Records Returns to The Classic Vee Jay Catalogue Chronicling the '59-'61 Sessions of Post Bop Pioneers Paul Chambers & Wynton Kelly

Mosaic Records is proud to announce the release of The Complete Vee Jay Paul Chambers-Wynton Kelly Sessions 1959-1961. The material included in the 6-CD set contains all of the recordings pianist Wynton Kelly and bassist Paul Chambers did together under their own leadership, as well as their sessions as sidemen with the excellent altoist Frank Strozier that features ...
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