Tale Of The Fingers – Paul Chambers
A bebop line in Paul Chambers' unique style, over the changes of Strike Up The Band. Originally recorded as an arco bass workout, this song certainly works for other melody instruments. A complete bass transcription is available including Paul's melody, solo, walking and trading. Don Sickler's 5-Bass arrangement with minus-you audio, Full Score and parts, is also available.
- Recording: Paul Chambers - Whims Of Chambers
- Recorded on: September 21, 1956
- Label: Blue Note (BLP 1534)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Piano - Horace Silver
- Bass - Paul Chambers
- Drums - Philly Joe Jones
Paul Chambers' unique phrasing and melodic shapes are on display throughout Tale Of The Fingers, which is based on the changes of George Gershwin's Strike Up The Band. Like that song, the form is ABCD with all sections different, though A and D have the same changes and similar beginning of the melody.
Tale Of The Fingers was originally recorded as an arco bass feature, but it certainly works for other instruments. Our lead sheet includes the coda as recorded, though with one difference: for the second to last chord hit, G in the melody doesn't fit with F7(♭9) so we have changed the melody note to a C.
A bass transcription is available; click on Bass Corner for more details.
Tale Of The Fingers was originally recorded as an arco bass feature, but it certainly works for other instruments. Our lead sheet includes the coda as recorded, though with one difference: for the second to last chord hit, G in the melody doesn't fit with F7(♭9) so we have changed the melody note to a C.
A bass transcription is available; click on Bass Corner for more details.
"Whims Of Chambers" is one of only three recordings on which Horace Silver and Philly Joe Jones played together, all from 1956. A month later, they both played on J.R. Monterose's self-titled Blue Note album, which includes a version of Paul Chambers' Beauteous; the bassist on this session, however, was Wilbur Ware. Silver, Ware, and Jones were also the rhythm section for Lee Morgan's debut album, "Lee Morgan Indeed!" recorded the following month.
Tale Of The Fingers has appeared on several more recent recordings, mostly featuring bassists. One notable version with no bass is from "Jazz At The Bistro," a 2002 live album by pianist Benny Green and the late guitarist Russell Malone.
Tale Of The Fingers has appeared on several more recent recordings, mostly featuring bassists. One notable version with no bass is from "Jazz At The Bistro," a 2002 live album by pianist Benny Green and the late guitarist Russell Malone.
CLIP Paul's arco bass solo gives everyone something to aspire to. This is an iconic arco bass solo, and in our transcription both the solo and walking have many important fingerings marked to give detail to this tale of the fingers.
Our bass transcription covers everything Paul Chambers plays on the recording. He plays the head arco and solos for three choruses, next switching to pizzicato to walk for Horace Silver's two-chorus piano solo CLIP. There is then a trading chorus beginning with drummer Philly Joe Jones, giving Paul time to get his bow again to trade and then take the melody out. This is an iconic arco bass solo, and in our transcription both the solo and walking have many important fingerings marked to give detail to this tale of the fingers.
- Recording: Daryl Johns - Tribute to Paul Chambers - Daryl Johns: multiple basses
- Recorded on: June 20, 2010
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1002)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Multiple Basses - Daryl Johns
This was Paul Chambers' tour-de-force arco feature on his "Whims Of Chambers" album (see album cover left).
Don Sickler: I was inspired to include this arco-bass tour-de-force in Daryl's Tribute To Paul Chambers project. For multiple basses I heard this a little slower than Paul Chambers originally recorded it. I use pizzicato basses to accompany the arco melody. After a four-measure pizz. intro establishes the tempo, the first bass plays the pickup to the arco melody. There's plenty of action, since the melody keeps the time going with lots of eighth notes, so I have the other four basses playing mostly syncopated hits to keep things moving.
We have a Full Score and individual parts for each bass, so it's easy to see what's happening. We've also included some of Daryl's bowing articulation in the melody for the Bass 1 part.
Don Sickler: I was inspired to include this arco-bass tour-de-force in Daryl's Tribute To Paul Chambers project. For multiple basses I heard this a little slower than Paul Chambers originally recorded it. I use pizzicato basses to accompany the arco melody. After a four-measure pizz. intro establishes the tempo, the first bass plays the pickup to the arco melody. There's plenty of action, since the melody keeps the time going with lots of eighth notes, so I have the other four basses playing mostly syncopated hits to keep things moving.
We have a Full Score and individual parts for each bass, so it's easy to see what's happening. We've also included some of Daryl's bowing articulation in the melody for the Bass 1 part.
Don Sickler: As I've explained in other notes, Daryl Johns spent weekends from the end of May through June, 2010, at the Van Gelder Recording Studio, with Rudy Van Gelder recording Daryl's multiple passes on multitrack digital audio. This was Daryl's first experience in a professional studio, with headphones, overdubbing to each previous track. It was an amazing experience for all of us, but especially for Daryl who was only 13 years old. All grown-ups were astonished at Daryl's composure and talent.
Daryl's "Tribute To Paul Chambers" album is well worth a listen.
Daryl's "Tribute To Paul Chambers" album is well worth a listen.
- Recording: Don Sickler - Don & Daryl
- Recorded on: July 2, 2024
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1066)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Flugelhorn - Don Sickler
- Multiple Basses - Daryl Johns
Video
- Don Sickler's arrangement for 4 basses and flugelhorn, performed by Don Sickler, flugelhorn; Ryan Lakritz, Raviv Markovitz, Zach Ostroff, Charlie Hack, basses. Don's 25th anniversary concert celebrating his years of teaching at Columbia University. The parts and full score, along with audio for Daryl Johns' original 5-basses recording and Don's studio recording, available only at https://jazzleadsheets.com/.
The four-bass accompaniment basses come from the accompaniment to Daryl John's "Tribute To Paul Chambers." Because of the spatial nature of the accompaniment, mostly hits, the melody bass can't be eliminated, so I elected to play flugelhorn along with Daryl's Bass 1 melody, to demonstrate the variety possible.
I enjoyed Daryl's playing on the "Tribute To Paul Chambers" titles so much that I wanted to play along with him myself, hence Don & Daryl.
When I played with Columbia University's 4 basses (see video above), I was the only one playing the melody, but I had 4 young bassists who also wanted a little solo space, so I eliminated the soloing over a walking bass, and then all of us first trade 8s, then 4s, then we play the out melody, which is the same as the in melody except it goes to a Coda. Because it was live, we could all feel the rhythmic flow together. Since that's not possible for our Minus You version, I elected to keep Bass 1 playing the melody and played flugelhorn along with it.
When I played with Columbia University's 4 basses (see video above), I was the only one playing the melody, but I had 4 young bassists who also wanted a little solo space, so I eliminated the soloing over a walking bass, and then all of us first trade 8s, then 4s, then we play the out melody, which is the same as the in melody except it goes to a Coda. Because it was live, we could all feel the rhythmic flow together. Since that's not possible for our Minus You version, I elected to keep Bass 1 playing the melody and played flugelhorn along with it.
MP3 Minus You melody format:
-- Daryl's count off sets up the intro
-- play the pickup to the melody (Bass 1 plays, volume slightly reduced)
-- play the melody with bass in octaves over the hits from the four accompanying pizz. basses
-- solo 2 choruses over walking bass
-- solo 2 choruses over accompaning stop time basses, first playing pizz. then arco for the second chorus
-- play the out melody (with a little twist on the last few bars of the Coda)
-- Daryl's count off sets up the intro
-- play the pickup to the melody (Bass 1 plays, volume slightly reduced)
-- play the melody with bass in octaves over the hits from the four accompanying pizz. basses
-- solo 2 choruses over walking bass
-- solo 2 choruses over accompaning stop time basses, first playing pizz. then arco for the second chorus
-- play the out melody (with a little twist on the last few bars of the Coda)
Paul Chambers
April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969
Bassist Paul Chambers was a leading rhythmic force in the 1950s and 1960s. He became one of the signature bassists in jazz history. Born in Pittsburgh but raised in Detroit, Chambers initially took up the baritone horn as a child. He followed suit with the tuba and didn't become interested in the string bass until 1949. Listening to Charlie Parker and Bud Powell and studying under a bassist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chambers began making headway in small bars of Hastings Street area and doing club jobs with Kenny Burrell, Thad Jones and Barry Harris. He did classical work in a group called the Detroit String Band, a rehearsal symphony orchestra. Read more...