Dennis Chambers, strictly self-taught, at the age of eighteen Dennis went straight from high school to playing with George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, where he stayed in the drum chair until 1985, when he joined the band Special EFX. From there he’s gone on to play with David Sanborn, John Scofield, Bill Evans, Mike Urbaniak, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Mike Stern, Steve Kahn, the Brecker Brothers Band, and many other fusion masters.
When he was just 13 years old, Dennis Chambers was invited to play drums with the legendary James Brown.
He wasn’t allowed to go on tour unless he brought a tutor with him, and unfortunately it wasn’t possible at the time.
Dennis Chambers went on to have an incredible career anyway, cutting his teeth with Parliament/Funkadelic, John Scofield Band, Carlos Santana and many others.
But Chambers will always remember the James Brown opportunity and continued to enjoy his music.
The first thing he learned to play was called a ‘fatback’, a beat whose name developed from a specific-sounding groove Brown wanted to hear.
You can find the fatback in many James Brown tracks, including “I Got The Feelin’”. What makes it different from the even more legendary ‘funky drummer’ beat? Chambers demos both in this short but sweet video about two groundbreaking grooves from the late 60s/early 70s.
