Paul Chambers

For the Australian rules footballer, see Paul Chambers (footballer).

Paul Chambers
Background information Birth name Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. Born April 22, 1935(1935-04-22) Origin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USADied January 4, 1969(aged 33) Genre(s)JazzOccupation(s) Double bassist Instrument(s)Double bass Label(s)Blue Note Records, Prestige Records, Verve Records, Riverside RecordsAssociated acts Miles Davis Quintet
Kenny Dorham Quartet

Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was one of the most influential jazz bassists of the 20th century.[1] Also known as Mr. P.C., 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
2 Influence
3 Discography
4 References

Biography

Born in Pittsburgh on April 22, 1935, Chambers was raised in Detroit where he studied music. He entered music when he and several schoolmates took up music and the baritone horn became his assignment.

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 in Detroit, where he had been living for a while since the death of his mother.

Musical education

His formal bass training got going in earnest in 1952, when he began taking lessons with a bassist in the Detroit Symphony. Paul 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 blowing baritone sax. By the time he left for New York at the invitation of Paul Quinichette, he had absorbed a working knowledge of many instruments.

Early playing career

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 who have since effected the Detroit-New York junction.

Later life

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 the 1959 classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. One of Paul's most noted performances was on that album's first cut, "So What," which opens with a brief duet with pianist Bill Evans.

Possessing one of the most immediately recognizable bass playing sounds and styles, Paul Chambers played bass in the Miles Davis quintets and sextets from the mid-'50s through the early '60s. From 1963 until 1966 Chambers played often with the Wynton Kelly trio, also freelancing as a sidemen for other important names in jazz all throughout his career.

Over 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

The role of the jazz bass player was largely a metronomic assignment until, in 1939, Jimmy Blanton's flight through time and space, when he alighted in the Duke Ellington airport, transformed the entire scene. Since that time scores of talented men have put hundreds of fingers to work proving that Blanton was right; that the bass is capable of melodic invention and rhythmic variety unknown before his day.

Oscar Pettiford is the man generally assumed to have inherited the Blanton mantle, though Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, Percy Heath and a few more have exhibited formidable prowess and extraordinary heights of inspiration. And now, to join the handful of giants of whom one can speak in the same breath as these few, the inner jazz circle has welcomed Paul Chambers.

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.

His accompaniment and solos with Davis and other leaders remain distinctive and influential. He and Slam Stewart were the first jazz bassists to perform arco or bowed solos.

Paul Chambers played on a great many albums during the period he was active. He performed on the several landmark albums, including John Coltrane's Giant Steps and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Many musicians wrote songs dedicated to Paul. John 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. Sonny Rollins wrote a song called "Paul's Pal" for him as well, and finally, long time fellow bandmate with Miles Davis, pianist Red Garland wrote the tune "The P.C. Blues", which is probably the most notable of the 5 tunes dedicated to him.