Q&A with Jazz Drummer Joe Chambers

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen

Joe Chambers is a legendary jazz drummer who recorded and played with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. He teaches drumming at colleges and universities. He worked with Spike Lee on four of his movies. His new album “Dance Kobina” was released on 3 February 2023. Go Check It Out!

KB: At what age did you discover your love for music and why especially Jazz?

I cannot recall my actual age when I discovered my attraction to music.

KB: Why did you decided to become a drummer? What makes drumming so special?

I think an instrument picks you. I was setting- up pots and pans at the age of 5, banging on them like a set of drums. So, in that sense, the percussive instincts were there. There’s something primal about drumming; like it’s the first voice.

KB: You played with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. How did you meet them and how was it working with them?

I did not actually perform with Miles Davis; I recorded with him on the “Silent Way” sessions. I performed with Dizzy at the Nice Jazz Festival in 1984. I’m not sure when I first met Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Working with them felt like I was making music at an extremely high level.

KB: You are an educator. Are you still teaching music and where?

I do residencies, master classes, and clinics at colleges and universities. The most recent one was the university of Hartford, Conn from 6-9 February 2023.

KB: If you were to make an album with 7 of your most favourite songs (Not your own): What would you pick and why?

At this time, I would pick 7 of my own compositions. I cannot think of 7 other songs I would want to do.

KB: Are there currently any artists you would love to work with or wished you had?

There is only one I want to work with and that is Herbie Hancock. All my other favorite people are gone.

KB: Do you remember the first time you performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center?

I do remember the first time I performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; it was with the Charles Mingus Orchestra, and I was concerned with making sure I played the drum parts correctly.

KB: You did the music for several Spike Lee movies. Did he contacted you or how did you meet him?

I met Spike Lee when he was a twenty-year-old film student at New York Univ. Met him through his father Bill Lee, bassist and composer of his first four movies “Bed- Stuy Barbershop”, “She’s Gotta Have It”, “School Daze” and “Do the Right Thing”. I’m in the orchestra on those Spike Lee movies.

KB: What are you currently working on? Is there new stuff coming out?

Just released CD “Dance Kobina” on Blue Note Records; released Feb.3, 2023. European Summer 2023 tour is pending. The new album is very percussive centered, using percussionist from Cuba, Brazil, Congo and Guinea. Also, some Canadian musicians. Recorded in New York and Montreal, it blends some “straight ahead” and Afro-Cuban idioms with four originals and a couple of jazz standards. I’m very excited about this project.

Check out Joe’s website: HERE

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