Wow! (Paul Chambers enquiry)

[davechamb]

Wow! I was so knocked out by the reponses I got from my Paul Chambers enquiry that I applied to become a supporting member.

It seems you guys know a helluva lot about Mr. PC and are more familiar with his basses than I am. I have only seen a handful of pictures of the legendary man. On the Whims of Chambers cover and the video with Miles and Gil Evans he plays a bass without any kind of ornate scroll like the one I heard described in the earlier thread. I wonder what this bass was? Was it a Juzek (as someone suggested in that earlier thread)? I've never seen a Juzek, the dealers I've spoken to in the UK seem to know very little about them (English and Italian basses are very much more the vogue here, especially amongst the orchestral community). It seems as though there is a greater proliferation of Cezch basses in the US than in the UK. I gather Blanton's bass was Czech, as was the bass Sam Jones gave to Rufus Reid. What's the lowdown on John Juzek? How do I know which account of the origin of Juzek basses is the real story?

Also, does anybody know where I can find these photos of PC that were talked about in the previous thread? I'm crazy about finding some more photographic or biographical information on the great man.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

I know personally John's Nephew Bobby Juzek and knew his father, John's brother Robert who ran the import business. The Juzek name was mainly used as a USA import and supplied mainly to schools at first. I also know Peter Eibert who worked for Juzek when I met him in the late 60s there at Metropolitan Music in NY, Juzeks Firm.

Look up Metropolitan Music on line. They have a similar history on their 'site.