Whims Of Chambers

Just look at the personnel here and know that this side swings from the first to the last note. Super hip compositions from Trane and Donald Byrd, with a nice little ballad thing and a hip bass melody blues from PC. Philly Joe's intro to Omicron will keep drummers up at night for centuries. I love Donald Byrd on minor tunes and he doesn't disappoint me here. Trane lays out for two measures in one of the tunes as though he is thinking about what to play next. That pause in itself is a rare enough occurrence. When he comes back in he lays down what he had been contemplating and we find it was worth the wait. I dig the silence that preceded it as much as the phrase itself, just because it so rare. Horace and Kenny do a great job of staying out of each other's way and all pianists and guitarists should be made to listen to how they do so. Far too often the two gang up on the soloist and bury him/her with accompaniment. My personal favorite on the record is Omicron, a line based on the changes to Dizzy's "Woody'n You". Trane only plays one chorus! It is a very nice, concise chorus, but i have been listening to this record for 25 years wishing he had taken at least two more on these deceptively challenging changes. Great music.

~ Paul Chambers was one of the most in-demand, highly respected musicians of his time. His recording career as leader and sidemen for many of the elite jazz artists of the ear only spanned 14 years before he died of tuberculosis in 1969, but fortunately he was recorded often. He was a master of bowed and pizzicato playing on the acoustic bass, with excellent timing and intonation. When Paul got the chance to record as leader he liked to include fellow Detroit artists such as Donald Byrd and Kenny Burrell. ~ 'Whims of Chambers' was Paul's first session as leader for the Blue Note label. Recorded on 21 September 1956, six months after his debut as a leader for the Jazz West label, Paul is accompanied by an all-star ensemble of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, trumpeter Donald Byrd, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. While Coltrane and Jones are holdovers from Paul's Jazz West album, the addition of Byrd and Burrell give this album a different flavour than Paul's debut album. This session is more aggressive and edgy than the earlier session, in part due to Byrd's style but also because Coltrane had progressed considerably in the six months between dates. Even Kenny Burrell is slightly more aggressive in style and tone than his other recordings of this ear. ~ All of the players get their chances in the spotlight. Chambers is spectacular in both bowed and pizzicato solos, especially on "Tale of Two Fingers" and "Whims of Chambers". Philly Joe Jones shimmers on brushes throughout the album. ~ Coltrane penned two of the tunes ("Nita" and "Just for the Love"), Chambers contributed three tunes ("Tale of the Fingers", the catchy "Whims of Chambers", and the beautiful ballad "Dear Ann"), and Byrd contributed two tunes ("Omicron" and "We Six"). The fact that each of these composers have slightly different writing styles and the fact that each player solos on almost every track adds to the variety of the session. ~ Highly recommended as a fine example of 1950's hard bop jazz.

CD arrived promptly and was not damaged, but the first track on the album skips so much that it isn't able to be listened to. All the other tracks are fine.

Paul Chambers is definitely one of my favorite bass players, so picking up this album was almost essenitial. I was right in thinking that it would be good because it is. Chambers is of course up front, but unlike a lot of bass players solo albums (read Ron Carter), Mr. PC is never in your face. He simply solos more. And there are a bunch of chances on this deal to hear his great arco playing, which always caught my ear. I disagree though with Amazon's opinion on Donald Byrd. I think he plays quite well. If anyone's lines are not up to par, I would have to say that it's Trane's. But it's the wild card, Kenny Burrell who really does it for me on this album. Philly Joe lights a huge fire under Burrell and his guitar solos really knocked me down on the ground. This is a great session for Burrell. It is just good though to hear more of Chamber's arco playing. If you want to here some more, you can check out Bud Powell's Scene Changes. PC solos like a mf with the bow on a bunch of songs. And Whims of Chambers is just a good deal to have around. The only drawback is the sound quality isn't too great. Perhaps Bluenote will eventually remaster and release it without all the unnecessary echo. Great album. Get it.

If you are reading this, your interest in Mr. PC has been sparked for some reason. You would be remiss not to buy this album, if not for the great bass playing and composition of Mr PC (Paul Chambers) himself, but also because John Coltrane appears on some of the tunes. Buy this one first, but then check out "We Three" with Paul Chambers.

I bought this because several tunes are transcribed in the Coltrane Omnibook. I'm a guitarist, so the presence of Kenny Burrell on the session is a plus. None of the tunes on this date have become part of the standard repertoire, and when you hear them you will understand why.

Well recorded and performed

SANS COMMENTAIRES

Sublime album

Coltrane, H. Silver, D. Byrd, K. Burrell, P.J. Jones etc son algunos de los grandes nombres de la época dorada del jazz y el Hard Bob. Aquí reunidos bajo el liderazgo de Paul Chambers (bajista en casi todos los discos de Miles Davis de los 50 no por casualidad). A pesar de que el contrabajo no es un instrumento protagonista Chambers se luce en algunos temas tocando con el arco o con pizzicato. Por todo lo dicho es un disco que merece estar en tu colección. En cuanto al diseño y sonido imita a los discos de la Blue Note pero seguramente esté copiado de un CD. Si quieres conseguir el vinilo original de su época no lo he visto más barato de 100€ por lo que esta reedición era lo que necesitábamos. No le he dado las 5 estrellas ya que no hay ningún tema "standard" ni que transcendiera y que habría hecho el disco más redondo.

Non conoscevo l'etichetta che ha ristampato il (bellissimo) disco. Consiglio

Mostly noted for the inclusion of early Coltrane. 'Whims Of Chambers' was also the first Blue Note LP by this great Miles Davis bass player. Chambers was not only the longest serving Davis bass player, he was also the longest serving musician to ever hold a chair in the notoriously fickle trumpeter's bands. There is plenty of evidence on this CD as to why Chambers held onto the bass chair for so long. The title track, a bass and guitar unison head, carries a great pizzicato solo whilst the sixth track, 'Tale of the Fingers', has four choruses of bowed bass, still a rarity in modern jazz to this day. Both of these are Chambers compositions, the only otehr being 'Dear Ann'. The other tunes include two by Donald Byrd and another two by Coltrane. Not necessarily essential listening but a solid LP by a consistently strong set of players