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The Career Of Paul Chambers

The April 6 edition of Jazz Unlimited will be “The Career of Paul Chambers.”  In his career from 1954-1969, bassist Paul Chambers participated in over 360 recording sessions.  His big sound and great time made him an invaluable player.  He was unusual because he would use the bow in some of his solos.  He is best known for his long tenure with Miles Davis, the Red Garland Trio and the Wynton Kelly Trio.  In this show, Chambers will also be heard with J.J. Johnson, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Quincy Jones Orchestra, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Clark, Oliver Nelson, John Coltrane, Art Pepper, A. K. Salim, Phineas Newborn, Jr., Hank Jones, Kenny Burrell and Joe Henderson.

The Slide Show has my photographs of some of the musicians heard on this show.

Here is John Coltrane (ts) Wynton Kelly (p) Paul Chambers (b) and Jimmy Cobb (d) playing "On Green Dolphin Street" in Berlin in 1960.  Note the use of the bow by Chambers.

Dennis Owsley has broadcast a weekly jazz show for St. Louis Public Radio since April 1983. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and is a retired Monsanto Senior Science Fellow and college teacher. His show, Jazz Unlimited, airs every Sunday from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. The show has the largest jazz audience in St. Louis and was named Best Jazz Radio Show in St. Louis for the years 2005-2007 and 2009 by the Riverfront Times. In celebration of his 25 years on the air, January 24, 2008 was proclaimed Dennis Owsley Day" in the City of St. Louis. He is the 2010 winner of the St. Louis Public Radio Millard S. Cohen Lifetime Achievement Award. Dennis is also a noted photographer, and his exhibit, In the Moment: Photographs of Jazz Musicians, ran from September 23, 2005 to January 21, 2006 at the Sheldon Art Gallery. He is a lifetime student of jazz history and teaches short courses on the subject. Dennis is the author of the award-winning book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1985-1973, published in 2006.