Paul Cambers—”Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” (1957)

Half a century ago, the music world was shaken by the death of one of the most gifted prodigies jazz had ever seen, 33-year old double bass player Paul Chambers. Here he is with “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise,” a 1928 classic tune by Hungarian-American composer Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951).

Chambers proved that the bass fiddle can be a pretty thing when handled by an artist of his caliber, especially when it is engaged in an effective interplay with the lyrical touch of Tommy Flanagan’s piano. Paul also solos eloquently over the superlative brushwork of Elvin Jones, then considered “the next big man on drums.” This was recorded at Rudi Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio on May 19, 1957 when Chambers was barely 22. The Blue Note album “Paul Chambers Quintet” was released in April 1958.

Pennsylvania-born Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers (1935-1969) was consider at the time by many jazzmen the greatest modern bass player, playing both pizzicato (as the bass is usually played in jazz) and arco (bowing) as it was beginning more to be played. He had emerge in the mid-50s as the great bassist on Miles Davis’ legendary album “Kind of Blue.” Chambers’ tone was velvet purr, his technique was unimpeachable, and his walking lines struck a lethal groove.

Although he played with other jazz groups before he joined the Miles Davis Quintet, Paul Chambers made his name with that unit, as a member of the rhythm section with Philly Joe Jones and Red Garland. He was an exceptionally gifted playe. Perhaps his familiarity with several other instruments -- such as the baritone horn and the tuba --aided in this. He combined a wonderful swinging feeling with great technical ability and a gift for interesting improvisations.

“It is a sad way to start the New Year,” Ralph J. Gleason wrote in The San Francisco Examiner of January 12, 1969, when Chambers had died of tuberculosis. “There is a long list of records with Paul Chambers on them. He was prolific. He played a lot and he got on many sessions apart from the ones with Davis. He was a great jazz player, and in all I knew of him personally, a nice, quiet guy. There are a lot of guys with secure futures in jazz who really aren’t worthy to carry his bass.”