Although vocalist and poet PIERRE
L. CHAMBERS began performing nearly 40 years ago, he has never
recorded a solo album. He had been thinking about recording an album,
and an encounter with vocalist and producer Cathy Segal-Garcia at a
performance was the spark he needed to set the project in motion.
Chambers’ debut album, SHINING MOMENTS, is a collection
of modern jazz classics in a range of styles, interspersed with a
couple of his poems recited to improvised music. Whether singing a
ballad or a bebop or swing tune, or reciting his poetry, Chambers’
warm baritone voice renders a song with heartfelt honesty.
Chambers was born in New
York, raised in Detroit and has lived in Los Angeles for the past 25
years. His love of jazz is in his DNA. His father, bassist Paul
Chambers, was one of the most iconic jazz musicians of the 20th
century, but it was his mother, Annie Chambers, who instilled in him
his love of jazz.
When he was growing up in the
1960s, Detroit was a city filled with music. Not only was it the
birthplace of Motown Records, but the city had a vibrant nightlife
that supported many legendary jazz musicians like Hank, Thad, and
Elvin Jones, Barry Harris, Gerald Wilson, Milt Jackson, Yusef Lateef,
and many more. Chambers relates, “My mother had an eclectic musical
taste. Every day, she would play all types of music for me, my
brother and sister. You could hear jazz, blues, rock, soul,
classical, Latin, and even Indian music coming from her room on any
given day, depending on her mood. She taught me not just how to
listen to music but how to really hear music. When I was 13, I was
the only kid on my block that could scat to Miles Davis’ ‘Sketches of
Spain.’” Chambers played saxophone and clarinet in his high
school concert band and sang in church choirs and small
groups. Chambers also began writing poetry at the age of 12 as
an outlet for his feelings.
Chambers moved to New Jersey
in 1982 where he met Lance Hayward, a Bermudian jazz pianist. He
became a member of The Lance Hayward Singers, a 24-voice jazz vocal
ensemble that sang classical, show tunes, standards, and jazz
numbers. He sang with the group from 1985 to 1993, performing around
New York City. In 1991, Chambers also began singing with The Family
Tree Singers. The group’s leader Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee, and
the Family Tree Singers sang all the music from Spike Lee’s first
four movies.
Chambers moved to Los Angeles
in 1996 and started performing solo shows with Dolores Peterson, a
music promoter in Los Angeles. At Peterson’s suggestion, he met Lisa
Herbert and Mitch Ellis, and together they formed Chambers, Herbert
& Ellis, a vocal trio that sang the music of Lambert, Hendricks
and Ross. The group had a residency for a year at the Gardenia Lounge
in Hollywood.
Producer Segal-Garcia is well
acquainted with many of the jazz musicians in Southern California and
brought on board musicians who would be a perfect fit for Chambers’
style, including KAREN HAMMACK (piano), HENRY FRANKLIN
(bass), CLAYTON CAMERON (drums), JEFF KAYE
(flugelhorns), and DORI AMARILIO (guitar). Segal-Garcia
provides background vocals on one tune, as well.
SHINING
MOMENTS is dedicated to Chambers'
father and mother, Paul and Annie, and the influence they had on his
artistry. He performs a Bossa version of “Dear Ann,” which his father
composed, and for which Chambers wrote the lyrics. Chambers also
wrote a poem dedicated to his father. “My Father,” a spoken word
piece accompanied only by Franklin’s bass, contains deeply personal
lyrics:
“I used
to stare at his bass / leaning in the corner of the bedroom / at the
foot of the bed between the bed and dresser / where my big brother
placed it for safe keeping. / It watched us sleep at night. / Stood
guard over any danger that might walk up the back stairs / of my
grandmother’s house wanting to do us harm. / We felt safe with it
leaning there.”
Chambers also dedicates a
poem to his beloved mother, Annie, called “This Mother”:
“This
mother vowed never to let / one of her children fight for this
country / that had destroyed so many black men. / She felt the pain
of being a black mother / raising black children. / She did her best
/ with what she had to give.”
Chambers covers a range of
styles on SHINING MOMENTS with his own unique
interpretations of standards like “My Favorite Things,” “It’s Only a
Paper Moon,” and “Work Song.” Chambers and the band come out swinging
on “My Shining Hour” and “The Way You Look Tonight” but switch gears
on sensitive ballads like “The Nearness of You” and Neal Hefti’s
“Lonely Girl.” Chambers also wanted to pay tribute to Blackness and
the African American experience, so he closes the album with a stirring
rendition of “Afro Blue,” with haunting background vocals by
Segal-Garcia.
Chambers has a resonant,
soulful voice that cuts right to the emotional center of a song. His
emotive renditions of classic jazz tunes reveal an artist who is not
only well-versed in the language of jazz but a poet who is sensitive
to the affective nuances of language. A pamphlet with three of his
poems accompanies the CD package.
SHINING
MOMENTS is an auspicious debut for
an artist who has been flying under the radar for far too long.
# # #
SHINING
MOMENTS will be released on March
17, 2023 and will be available everywhere.
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