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Dennis Chambers Biography
Dennis Chambers born Dennis Milton Chambers is an American drummer. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2001. He has recorded and performed with Tommy Coster, John Scofield, George Duke, Victor Wooten, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, CAB, Greg Howe, and many others.
Dennis Chambers Age
Dennis Milton Chambers was born in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. on May 9, 1959. He is 60 years as of 2019.
Dennis Chambers Family
Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years and was gigging in Baltimore-area nightclubs by the age of six. He was recruited in 1981 by the Sugar Hill Label to be their “house drummer.” Contrary to popular belief he did not play on “Rapper’s Delight”
Dennis Chambers Wife
There are no details that show Dennis Chambers to be married or engaged to a partner. Currently, he might be dating low key but no details have been revealed on his relationship.
Dennis Chambers Career
In December 2004, Chambers was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music during the inauguration of the current president, Roger H. Brown.
In 1978 (at 18 years old) he joined Parliament/Funkadelic and stayed with them until 1985. Again in 1986, he joined the John Scofield band. Since then he has played with most of the major figures in jazz fusion music.
Dennis Chambers Photo
He has recorded and performed with Tommy Coster, John Scofield, George Duke, Victor Wooten, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, CAB, Greg Howe, and many others.
He has toured extensively with Carlos Santana and makes appearances with his band Niacin.
In 2013 Chambers recorded the album Groove and More, produced by Lino Nicolosi and Pino Nicolosi, for the Italian company Nicolosi Productions, published by Soul Trade.
Chambers was asked in an interview who some of his influences and favorite drummers were and he mentioned Clyde Stubblefield, Al Jackson Jr., Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Husband, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Tony Williams.
He plays and endorses Pearl drums, pedals, hardware & racks, Zildjian cymbals, Zildjian drumsticks & general accessories, LP percussion, Ddrum electronics, and Evans Drumheads.
Dennis Chambers Net Worth
Chambers is a well-known Drummer. He is also is ranked in the list of most popular and Richest celebrities. However, his net worth is still under review but will be updated as soon as it is clear.
Dennis Chambers Website
He has a website; www.dennischambers.com
Dennis Chambers: “James Brown would probably have ruined my life”
When Dennis Chambers was just 13-years-old and gigging around his hometown of Baltimore, he was already so precociously talented that he was asked to join James Brown’s group.
Chambers’ mother turned down the offer on her son’s behalf as Brown wouldn’t pay for a tutor for Dennis while on the road; Chambers has no regrets.
“Thank god I didn’t play with him when I was 13 because he would probably have ruined my life and what I mean by that is that James had a lot of demons,” he says.
The drummer credits his musicality to his mother, who was a Motown backing singer before moving back to Baltimore where she formed a band. “They used to rehearse in my mother’s apartment or my grandmother’s backyard and that was the only thing that would keep me still, sitting there watching the drummer play,” says Chambers whose real name is Milton. “Somebody called me Dennis the Menace and the name stuck.”
In the 1970s, Chambers joined George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic before becoming one of the most in-demand fusion drummers in the world, working with everyone from John McLaughlin and John Scofield to Greg Howe and Mike Stern. In 2014 it appeared Chambers’ drumming days might be over when he fell gravely ill on tour, but after a year’s hiatus he picked up right where he left off.
You went from Parliament-Funkadelic to playing with John Scofield?
Chambers: “Well, no. The tail end of my thing with Funkadelic, I got plugged into Sugar Hill Records, so I was doing a lot of rap stuff. I ended up playing with Grandmaster Flash, I did ‘The Message’ and ‘White Lines’, and by being plugged into that, there were so many rap artists that were a part of that, you end up doing a lot of different things with all these different people.
“I would come up from Baltimore, go right into Jersey, and we would start recording. We would record the whole day and even at night. Sometimes, we’d come out of the studio at daybreak the next day. We were just coming up with grooves, not knowing where they were going to go. Doug Wimbish, the bass player from Living Colour, was part of that and he was the one who brought me into that whole thing.”
Was it the gig with Scofield that put you on the map as a fusion player?
Chambers: “Funk-fusion, yeah. That’s my take on it. I believe that’s what it was because the whole time I’m playing with Parliament-Funkadelic, which was a big band as far as recognition. We were headlining stadiums and that’s how the musicians knew who I was. With Scofield, he brought me to the audience.”
You’ve played with Mike Stern and John McLaughlin, two serious heavyweight guitarists. What do they want from a drummer?
Chambers: “Mike Stern wants a guy who can support his music and make it feel good. Sometimes I’ll have disagreements with some of the stuff he comes up with, where he feels things should go this way and I feel it should go that way. It ends up me pretty much telling him, you play guitar, I play drums. I don’t tell him how to play guitar, so don’t tell me how to play drums.
“John McLaughlin is a beautiful guy to work for. You can’t play enough drums for him. I remember when I joined his band, he would send me tapes, because I don’t read music and it sounded like four drummers playing on it.
“I would call him up: ‘John, I got the tape, which direction are we going with here?’ ‘Denny-o,’ (he called me Denny-o) ‘Hey, man, you’ve just got to find your own way. I’m not going to tell you what to do. If you hear it, go with it. The tape is just a guide sheet, whatever you feel. If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you.’ And that’s the way he was.
“I’d come up with things, he’s over there laughing. A few times at rehearsal I had to stop: ‘What are you laughing about?’ ‘Man, it just sounds so f**king great!’ He’s beautiful, man. I really miss playing with him. He’s one of the few guys that won’t tell you what to do.
“George Duke was another one. He wouldn’t tell you what to do. He’d hire you for your brain and your heart. That’s how John is.”
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