Paul Chambers - Bass On Top

I always considered bassists in jazz to be the unsung heroes of the genre. Sure you have Mingus and Jaco Pastorius but that's the only people somebody would actually know about in more detail. The others were just kinda there despite contributing a lot to the music itself.

Paul Chamber definitely sits among the top of the unsung heroes. He, like many others in his craft, did a lot of albums. He was a long time companion of Coltrane, Miles, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley and a lot of other people. In contrast to that he did very few of his own albums.

Bass on Top is, in my opinion, his best output. This is where Chambers shines the most and has the most freedom to explore his own ideas of playing. There is only rhythm section on this album (so to speak) featuring most notably Kenny Burrell on guitar with who Chambers does a lot of interplay. That is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this album. The guitar and bass follow each other all the time, catching each others riffs and solos. Running along in between the steady drum patterns and piano chords that echo somewhere in the back. Each artist gets their moment to shine but like I said, it was Chambers time to shine and he did shine brightly.

Oh and please take note that the album is in flac:

Part: one, two and three.