Music
Paul Chambers
1935–1969 · jazz double bassist
Hard-bop bassist raised in Detroit, trained at Cass Tech and by a Detroit Symphony bassist, who anchored Miles Davis's first great quintet.
- Born
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Died
New York City
aged 33- Birth name
- Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1940s–1954
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born in Pittsburgh, Chambers was brought up in Detroit after his mother's death. He began serious bass study in 1952 with private lessons from Gaston Brohan, principal bassist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and from 1952 to 1955 attended Cass Technical High School on and off, playing in its symphony orchestra and in student groups, in one of which he played baritone saxophone. He also played classical music with a rehearsal ensemble called the Detroit String Band. He came of age in Detroit's extraordinary postwar jazz scene, alongside players such as Yusef Lateef. Around 1954 he left for New York with saxophonist Paul Quinichette, and within a year he was the bassist in Miles Davis's first great quintet, going on to play on Kind of Blue and more than 100 albums as a sideman. He was known especially for his bowed solos. He died in New York in 1969, aged 33.
Highlights
- Bassist of Miles Davis's quintet, 1955–1963
- Played on Kind of Blue (1959) and John Coltrane's Giant Steps (1960)
- More than 100 recordings as a sideman
- Trained with Detroit Symphony principal bassist Gaston Brohan
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1952–1955
Cass Technical High School
He studied here on and off, playing in the school symphony and student groups. The school moved into its current building in 2005; the old building on Second Avenue was demolished in 2011.