Paul Chambers

Continuing my research on jazz bassists I turn my attention to Paul Chambers. Paul was born in Pittsburg Pennsylvania in 1935. He moved to Detroit where he grew up playing in local gigs around the city until he moved to New York at the age of 20. He initially started out on the baritone and followed with the tuba. He picked up a string bass in 1949 and really dug into his bass training in 1952 when he played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. When he got to New York he played with J.J. Johnson-Kai’s quintet as well as George Wallington.

Growing up he idolized Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown and later became fans of Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Jimmy Blanton was probably his all-time favorite. In 1955 he joined Miles Davis’s quintet where he played through 1963. When he left Davis’s group he played with pianist Wynton Kelly as well as some freelance work in New York. He did a little classical work throughout his career. In 1952-1955 he studied off and on at Cass Technical high school. He played the symphony there and even played the baritone saxophone on several occasions. He became known for his ability to perform “bowed” solos. Bowed solos had never really been attempted and his ability to work them in as a solo while keeping tempo and keeping the audience interested was second to none. This was really what painted his mark on the jazz culture. A quote from allaboutjazz.com states that “Chambers holds the unique distinction, along with Coltrane and Wynton Kelly, of participating on two of the most important albums in jazz history: Coltrane's Giant Steps, and Davis' Kind of Blue.”[1] Paul Chambers died in 1969 at the age of 33 from tuberculosis.

The blogger software would not let me post it in a video form so here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0t1-DxX5Ew

The listening selection I have for this week is a piece from Paul Chambers sextet. It is called Whims of Chambers. It appears to be in a 4 beats per measure time form. Also it seems to be in AABA form. Soon after the introduction we hear a bass solo. Chambers is swinging hard! Drum set is in the background with brushes. Next we go into a piano solo followed by a guitar solo all with Chambers hammering out the bass line in the background. We finish off with a quick piano and drum solo and then the original melody of the song comes back in. Truly a very good piece of music to show off Paul Chambers talents on the bass!

Walter Page

Another and perhaps the most influential bass player that I have researched is the great Walter Page. Page was an African American jazz bassist that was known for his ability to play behind soloists while remaining in the “four beats to the bar” form. Walter Page was born in Gallatin, Missouri in the year 1900. He attended Lincoln High School and started playing bari-sax and tuba while in high school. He then went to The University of Kansas and continued his study of music there. While he was studying he would go Kansas City on weekends to play with Bennie Moten and also did some gigs with the Dave Lewis band.

After school he was the founder of the Blue Devils, a band centered in Oklahoma City. He experimented with different instruments and more instruments in the rhythm section and basically set the precedent of the modern rhythm sections as we know them today. His changes included a piano, drum set, guitar and a string bass. Before it had been common to see a banjo, drum set and bass horn such as a tuba. The Blue Devils were a little bit different than other bands. They were known as a “commonwealth” band meaning the earnings by the band were split evenly among its members. They were also a band that used head arrangements and often times didn't play with music. Every single member in the band shared the same or similar ideas in music as the others.

As his band grew better and stronger Page offered challenges to Bennie Moten to prove that his band was better. Page wanted to Battle him. Over time as Moten refused to battle, he became rather smart and started to recruit members of Pages band. With little effort he stole Count Basie and several others. Page soon had them replaced with top notch musicians such as Lester Young. As he grew older Page was known for his walking bass lines. A quote from allaboutjazz.com states: “His evenly accented, four-beat “walking” bass lines provided not only a harmonic foundation but a melodic counterpoint in his accompaniments, and he chose notes that enhanced the playing of his bands and soloists.”[1]

Walter eventually joined Count Basie and Bennie Moten in Bennie Moten's band until Bennies death in 1935. He returned to play with Count Basie from then until 1942. Walter Page died in 1957. He was on his was to film part of The Sound of Jazz and he passed away not to long after. His early death limited his impact on jazz but he is still regarded as one of the most influential bassists and band leaders of the swing era.


http://grooveshark.com/s/Them+There+Eyes+number+2/44X3s5?src=5


For my listening this week, I wanted to incorporate a song that featured Walter Page. The song "Them There Eyes" does just that. As you can see I posted the link to it above because I could not find anything I liked on YouTube. Even though this song doesn't have a full band playing, it is a great example of how simple jazz can be. The song starts off with a guitar introduction and goes right into a muted trumpet solo. In the background you can hear Page with his "walking bass line". After some vocals we go into a saxophone solo. This tune seems to be in AABA form. It is a very laid back traditional song. The next soloist is a muted trumpet and the clarity of the "walking bass line" can really be heard well here. A third soloist on an alto sax comes in and we end with a trumpet. This song isn't the most upbeat song out there, but rather very simple. The simplicity allows you to really hear that walking bass line and understand how it helped the musicians solo. It opened up a ton of opportunities for them as musicians and jazz would not be what it is today with out it.

Jimmy Blanton

The next bassist I have chosen to research is Jimmy Blanton. Jimmy Blanton was an incredibly influential jazz double bassist. Born in October in Chattanooga Tennessee in 1918 he originally learned how to play the violin. He initiated his professional playing violin in Chattanooga as he grew up playing with groups that his mother who played the piano led.


He attended Tennessee State College where he started to play the stand-up bass. After he switched to the string bass he began to play with local bands led by Joe Smith and “Bugs” Roberts. He also played with the State Collegians. After attending college for three years he moved to St. Louis where he joined up with The Jeter-Pillars Orchestra. Two years later as he was playing a “gig” in St. Louis at The Coronado Hotel Ballroom with Miles Davis’ band, Duke Ellington happened to be in town and was very impressed with what he heard from Blanton. A quote from allmusic.com states ““…Blanton's bass could dance freely around the band and phrase like a horn, all without undermining the music's bass foundation.”[1] Duke Ellington immediately signed Blanton to play in his band. For the next two years Jimmy Blanton played as Ellington’s primary bassist in his band. Ellington wrote specific duets for Blanton to play on bass with tenor sax player Ben Webster. As the two became more popular Duke Ellington’s band was given a recording contract with Victor recording. A quote from allaboutjazz.com said “Jimmy Blanton immediately changed the sound and pulse of the orchestra. He had a fluent, buoyant sense of swing, matched with a unique sense of intonation. It was his quality of levitating the sound by his superior musicianship which inspired the other members of the band to rise to the occasion.”[2]


Jimmy Blanton unfortunately did not live a very long life. While on tour with Ellington’s band in Los Angeles, he became very sick and after spending some time in the hospital he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He fought it for about a year and was eventually moved to the Duarte Sanitarium, close to Los Angeles. He passed away a few months later in the year of 1942 at an incredible young age. Even though he died young, Jimmy Blanton was still one of the most iconic jazz double bass players of his time and greatly influenced “be-bop”and according to www.jazz.com "Blanton contributed more to the jazz legacy before the age of twenty-five than most do in a lifetime."[3]


http://grooveshark.com/#!/search?q=Jimmy+Blanton

For my listening song for this week I picked a song with both Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton. I could not find this song on youtube so I copied the link above that should take you to it on Grooveshark. It is the first song on the list entitled Mr. J.B. Blues. This song starts off with just the Duke and Blanton playing a riff over and over again. After they repeat this 8 times and move on to a new riff I started the song over and noticed that it is indeed in AAB form, however they go with a different AAB on the next run. I found it amazing that both musicians both flow really well together but at the same time everything they do individually is relative simple. Jimmy starts to play with a "bow" on his bass around the 2:07 mark. This is the first time I have ever heard a bow used in a jazz song. Blanton seems to push the limits of what most bassists would do but continues to "bail" himself out of it with smooth transitions and phrasing in his playing. While this is a very basic and smooth piece, I think it shows just how talented both Jimmy Blanton and Duke Ellington were quite well.