Paul Chambers (3) – Chambers' Music: A Jazz Delegation From The East

I’ve got a record with labels that match this release, but the music is Return of Art Pepper

Good Sound And good pressing on heavy vinyl. Top Quality

This is one of my favourite LPs by a man who, in large part, inspired me to eventually become a bass-player (I originally played the trumpet). Paul Chambers was quite literally the first jazz bassist I ever heard, as a small child, when my mother played 'Kind Of Blue' for me one day in late 1973 or early 1974. At that time, I was much more focused on Miles' trumpet playing, but a few years later I heard Jimi Hendrix's 'Ezy Ryder', and thought something along the lines of "yeah, Hendrix is great as usual, but who the hell is this amazing bass-player???". Of course it was Billy Cox, and that incident (in retrospect, anyway) makes it seem rather obvious that I was destined to pick up the bass at some point. As a Detroit musician also, those bass-players we refer to as "the big four" (i.e. Doug Watkins, Paul Chambers, James Jamerson & Ron Carter) have been primary influences. In addition, of course, the other musicians on this CD are also among the greatest jazz musicians by any measure- not only Curtis Fuller (recently departed, sadly) and Pepper Adams, both personal favorites of mine, but John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones, et. al. It would be difficult to imagine a more talented group of musicians.

The reason for stating all of the above is to underline the fact that it gives me no pleasure to criticise this release. Before purchasing this last year (2021), I had never been able to find and purchase a copy on any medium, and so for nearly a decade made do with a ripped digital copy of the CD held by the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library (Chambers' Music: A Jazz Delegation From The East). When I received this CD in the mail, I was thrilled, and immediately listened to it in my vehicle while driving around to, for, and from work that day. The speakers in my work van are, compared with other OEM car stereo speakers, just about dead center in of quality; in other words, they are perfectly adequate, though I would of course like to have better! They are good enough, for example, that the difference in clarity and volume of Chambers' bass-lines between the RVG remaster of Hank Mobley's 'Workout' and the previous CD release is absolutely clear and unmistakable.

In reference to the present CD, sadly, there are some issues. On the plus side, volume level is extremely high, and the clarity would, under other circumstances, be perfectly acceptable- even exceptional for a recording of this vintage. The equalisation sounds slightly un-balanced to my ears as well, but that may in part be a side-effect of the major issues. Those issues are that to attain the volume, they apparently mastered the recording too "hot", pushing the result into a harsh, distorted digital "clipping", further exacerbated by an unpleasant screechy, "tinny"-sounding echo around the edges. The former issue is not unlike, though nowhere near as bad as, those which plagued Iggy Pop's notoriously botched remaster of the Stooges' 'Raw Power' in the mid-1990s. The latter problem is usually associated with the sort of poor-quality, low sample rate digital transfers of many legacy jazz recordings during the 1980s, which leads me to doubt the claim of a 24-bit remaster in this case (and/or to question what the source recording was). That last bit aside, if they had simply backed off just a little bit on the volume level during mastering, it would no doubt have sounded noticeably better, although the overall lack of warmth and general "digital coldness" would likely still have been present. I really love this LP, but it is unpleasant to listen to this version- good jazz almost invariably makes me happy, but this just makes me sad...

I was surprised when I heard "Vierd Blues" credited as "Visitation". No idea how this came about.

Solid compilation boasts 24 bit which is utter nonsense but the transfer is wide open and one really can't hope for more.

My album is the some with different number: Imperial LP-12182-A

The Japanese CD issue (TOCJ-9253) is an excellent version of this album. The sound is superb. Not only does this version have the original album: it also contains the three tracks with Trane, Chambers, Jones and others recorded by Transition. Only one of those tracks, "Trane's Strain", was issued at the time (on an obscure compilation LP). Michael Cuscuna came across the (unlabeled) tape of the session while grubbing around for unissued Blue Note material.

This collection of 9 tracks provides a fine example of the Chambers/Jones rhythm section in its prime. The "Chambers' Music" album featured the touring Miles Davis group without Miles and with Kenny Drew in place of Red Garland. Trane in 1956 had not yet fully developed his style, but he plays very well on this CD. It is good not to have the trumpet, because it leaves more room for the saxophone.

This is 1956, but no excuses have to be made for the sound engineering.