Joe Chambers – The Almoravid (Muse/32 Jazz, 1974)

Joe Chambers (d); Woody Shaw (tr); Garnett Brown (tb); Harold Vick (ts, fl); Cedar Walton (p, el p); George Cables (el p); Cecil McBee (b); Walter Booker (el b); Richard Davis (el b); Omar Clay (mar, perc); David Friedman (mar, perc); Doug Hawthorne (mar, perc); Ray Mantilla (cga, perc)

Recorded on February 10, 1971, October 8, 1973, and November 1, 1973

I've read that Joe Chambers wasn't entirely pleased when 32 Jazz chose to reissue The Almoravid in 1998, since he felt that some of the music hadn't aged well.  It's been more than 20 years since the reissue, and I don't know if Chambers feels differently now.  But regardless of Chambers' assessment, I've loved this music since the first time I heard it.

Most fans who are familiar with Chambers know him for his drumming in support of Blue Note stalwarts during the 1960s.  Chamber's sideman appearances include Freddie Hubbard's Breaking Point (1964), Wayne Shorter's Adam's Apple (1966), Joe Henderson's Mode for Joe (1966), Sam Rivers' Contours (1967), McCoy Tyner's Tender Moments (1968), and Andrew Hill's Andrew!!! (1968).  But Chambers' most important relationship was with another Blue Note artist, Bobby Hutcherson.  

During the 1960s, Chambers worked with the vibraphonist on no less than nine Hutcherson-led Blue Note albums.  (Hutcherson was such a prolific recording artist that several of these albums weren't released until years later.)  And it wasn't just Chambers' drumming that made such an impact.  His contributions as a composer were a vital aspect of this extraordinary body of work.  Chambers composed (or co-composed) seventeen tracks on seven of Hutcherson's albums -- and five of Hutcherson's albums have titles based Chambers' compositions: Dialogue (1965), Oblique (1979), Spiral (1979), Medina (1980), and Patterns (1980).  So it's no surprise that The Almoravid is full of beautifully composed music.

Chambers was an original member of Max Roach's M'Boom ensemble, and there are certain aspects of this music that are similar.  The music on The Almoravid is very drum-oriented and percussion heavy.  But unlike M'Boom, this music also deploys other instrumentalists -- musicians like Woody Shaw, Garnett Brown, Harold Vick, Richard Davis, and Cecil McBee -- all of whom help to make this unique and difficult-to-categorize music special.  

More Joe Chambers
During the 1970s, Chambers briefly co-led a band with organist Larry Young.  Their only album Double Exposure (Muse, 1978) is excellent.  Chambers continues to perform to this day.  In more recent years, he's made records for the Savant label, including Horace to the Max (2010) and Landscapes (2016).