Joe Chambers - Horace To Max (2010)

Joe Chambers is one of the drummers from the fifties and sixties who, along with Max Roach and Art Blakey, has influenced an entire generation of drummers. Archie Shepp, in fact, compared Chambers' qualities as a sensitive yet dynamic drummer to another influential drummer, Roy Haynes. Still, for all his accomplishments, Joe Chambers is a very humble, almost self-deprecating musician. For all the profound music of which he's played a role, Chambers views his legacy as a day in the life. "When we were making those records we weren't thinking about making history, we were just doing it at the time." With an ensemble that includes stalwarts Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Xavier Davis on piano, the colorful percussion effects of Steve Berrios and others, Chambers, on both drums and exhibiting his considerable chops on vibes, here breathes fresh life into a number of well-known jazz classics (by the likes of Max Roach, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Monk, and others) and one original tune. While the overall approach is mainstream, the sound is unequivocally contemporary. It remains reverential to tradition yet with a clear regard for jazz as a vital, living, breathing entity.