| New Book Details Life and Music of Paul Chambers
Mr P. C.
The Life and Music of Paul Chambers
During his 13 year career between 1955 and 1968, Paul Chambers was one of the leading double bass players in jazz, performing with a wide variety of artists and a range of the music’s sub-genres and recording over 300 albums for labels such as Blue Note, Riverside, Mercury and Colum- bia Records. Chambers performed alongside some of the greatest names in jazz including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Her- bie Hancock, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Gil Evans and Freddie Hubbard. Although he recorded half a dozen LPs under his own name, including his own compositions, he is probably best remembered for his contribution to the greatest jazz recording of all time; Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue where his bass notes are legendary.
Mr P. C. tells the story of this quiet giant of jazz; his birth in Pittsburgh, youth in Detroit, his early rise to jazz celebrity, his time at the top, his struggle against alcoholism and heroin addiction and the circumstances surrounding his tragic death of tuberculosis, aged 33, in 1969. Using ma- terial from other literary sources and interviews with family members, friends and colleagues in the jazz fraternity, this book tells in full for the first time this influential musician’s story. The book includes a compre- hensive discography detailing all of his recordings both as a sideman and bandleader.
Contents
1. Motor City Scene; 2. New York, the Jazz Corner of the World; 3. Cham- bers’ Music; 4. Workin’ with Miles; 5. Bass On Top; 6. Milestones; 7. Blue Steps; 8. Sketches and Beyond; 9. After Miles; 10. Big Paul; Epilogue
The Author
Rob Palmer is a semi-professional bass player of 28 years’ experience who has played jazz for most of that time. He has performed and recorded with some of the UK’s leading jazz musicians including Jim Mullen, Iain Ballamy, Stan Sultzman, Janusz Carmello, Dave DeFries, Tim Whitehead and Roy Williams. | 
