Rob don’t get out much but he does try and make an impression in his own little way. He has some recordings available commercially through the normal outlets and it seems sensible to put them up here so people can see that having a day job doesn’t mean you can’t make some noise.
Mr. P.C: the life and music of Paul Chambers
Named one of the best books of 2012 by The New York City Jazz Record
Winner of the 2013 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in Jazz
During his thirteen year career, between 1955 and 1968, Paul Chambers was one of the leading double bass players in jazz, performing with a variety of artists and in a range of the music’s sub-genres. He recorded over three hundred LPs for labels such as Blue Note, Riverside, Mercury and Columbia Records. Chambers performed as a sideman with many of the greatest names in jazz including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Gil Evans and Freddie Hubbard. He recorded a half dozen albums under his own name that included his own compositions, but is probably best remembered for his contribution to the greatest jazz recording of all time: Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue.
Mr. P.C. tells the story of this quiet giant of jazz: his early experiences in Detroit, his rise to jazz celebrity, his time at the top, his ultimate struggle against the tides of change enveloping the music that he loved, and the circumstances surrounding his tragic death, aged 33, in 1969. Featuring interviews with family members, friends and colleagues with the jazz fraternity, this book represents the first time that much of this influential musician’s story has been told. It includes a comprehensive discography detailing all of his recordings both as a sideman and a band leader.
The link below will take you to the publisher’s website where the book can be purchased as a hardcopy or as an e-book.
Recordings
Tim Ainslie and The Vibes – Pint Half Full
Featuring Rob alongside Suffolk guitarist Tim Ainslie and drummer Brendan O’Neill (Rory Gallagher), a powerful trio playing Tim’s compositions.
No Quarter – New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
Recorded in 1982 for a Heavy Metal Records compilation ‘Heavy Metal Heroes Vol. 2’ – the track is called ‘Power And The Key’. The link is to the whole album and the track is at 42:40. Rob then aged 17.
No Quarter’s ‘Survivors’ EP.
Multi-Story – CBF 10
Rob was the roadie and lighting guy for Welsh Prog Rockers Multi STory during their first incarnation in the 1980s. He woudl have loved the bass chair but it was firmly held by then bass player Roger Nasey and Rob had to content himself with lifting kit and pressing buttons. Multi Story re-formed in the second decade of the new millenium but Rob was 300 miles away and unable to audition for the gig. Move forward to 2019 and the band’s mainstays, Paul Ford and Rob Wilsher recorded their ‘CBF10’ album using a stable of musicians rather than a regular band and this was Rob’s opportunity to bring his fretless Wal to the CD’s opening track ‘Signs And Traces’.
Also Eden
Another Prog moment. This was a one-off session which Rob got to do because the band’s bass player did not have the requisite gear to record at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. The tune is Peter Garbriel’s ‘Here Comes The Flood’ revitalised by a new arrangement and Huw Lloyd Jones’ moving vocal. It features Rob’s trusty Wal Custom Fretless which he has had since 1986 and which remains his main bass (almost all of the electric bass playing on this page is that bass).
Silent Partner
Silent Partner was a band that Rob played in in Chepstow, S. Wales, in the mid-1980s. The band had no commercial success and it’s only real claim to fame is that the singer/guitarist Grant Nicholas went on to front U.K. Rock band Feeder. The band’s guitarist/keyboard player, Brian Sperber, also went on to success in the music business as a sound engineer and producer working with Moby, Feeder, Ric Ocasek, Blues Traveler and Whitney Houston. Attached is a link to the band’s entire recorded material (all demos and no commercial releases).
Sessions:
Paul Hornsby (composer of this piece) writes the following – This piece as written and recorded nearly 30 years ago. I wanted to establish a moody almost sinister vibe that reflected the quiet time of day that follow sunset. I enjoy and always have loved Rob Palmer’s bass playing. His contribution to this track recorded in one take was massive (including some wonderful sliding harmonics). Julian Martin’s piano solo toward the end of the track was just what I wanted. Quirky and angular and slightly eccentric. Wonderfull stuff! It’s interesting to me how the technology has changed. Nowadays DAW’s have all the power needed to record MIDI data alongside multiple audio streams without any problems at all. Back then in the early 90’s a lot musicians had to record MIDI separately to audio and to synchronise a computer and multi track tape recorder via SMPTE time code. A lot of fuss but it worked. The equipment used in this session included an ATARI 1040st computer running Notator software and hardware SMPTE CODE tape device and an 8 track multi track tape recorder. The resulting final mix recorded to DAT tape.
Andy Fernbach
This one from the 1996 Andy Fernbach ‘Blues From A Hotel Room’ CD. Rob recorded his bass parts for three tunes on this CD at Jacob’s Studios in Farnham, Surrey, shortly before the CD was released. The other musicians had reportedly recorded their parts 10 years previously! The delay was caused by ill-health on the part of Andy but, to his credit, he got there in the end.
Albino Cubana
An Ipswich based seven-piece Latin band which existed for a brief period in the eary 2010s. These performances all come from the band’s only CD ‘Dime Tu’.
Double Bass Jazz:
A few other sessions:
White Foot Lane – an Ipswich based project led by pianist composer, Phil Graves who Rob met when they played together in Albino Cubana. Lovely Pop Country vibe.