On the same January 2026 day that Woody Shaw’s Love Dance was offered in high-quality vinyl for the first time, Zev Feldman’s Time Traveler Recordings revived yet another sleeper classic from the rich Muse Records catalog.
Joe Chambers’ 1978 heater Double Exposure now seeing wider release will surely please vinyl audiophile jazz fans with its remastering (by Matthew Lutthans) and 180g thick platter. Bill Milkowski’s liner notes provides informative commentary on the music contained within as well as the stories around those recordings from the useful perspective of looking back from a contemporary perspective.
The significance of this release comes from highlighting Chambers’ strengths as both a composer and pianist. When running down the list of all-time jazz drummer greats, the list gets a lot shorter when identifying those who are also great composers and can play piano at a high level. Jack DeJohnette was one; Chambers is another (Chambers also has vibraphone and tabla skills). Chambers-penned songs can be heard on notable albums by Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard and Max Roach’s M’Boom. Double Exposure highlights both of those overlooked sides of Chambers.
The other noteworthy thing about this record is that the only other musician on it is the eminent organist Larry Young, and as I’ll explain below, he’s put in some setting that are both common and uncommon for him. While being a powerful presence whenever he’s performing, Young also does all the little things that bolsters Chambers’ many talents.
“Hello to The Wind” is a rather gentle way to start a record, especially with a burner like Young on board. However, this number is a pretty one, and it’s appropriately best rendered with a lightly accompanied piano. Young hangs back with background colorings here and it serves the song well in its discreetness.
Young’s “The Orge” is delivered as an ostinato with Chambers’ left hand while his right hand embarks on some spirited runs with the organist again staying largely in the background. “Mind Rain” fades in reprising “The Orge” for a minute and then settling into a new pattern, a striking melody that lingers long after the song is over.
“After The Rain” (a Chambers original, not the John Coltrane song) is another attractive strain; this one has a classic Tin Pan Alley feel. On this unaccompanied piano piece, Chambers wields a sensitive touch that goes well beyond the capabilities of simply a ‘composer piano’ style.
The final two tracks crank up the intensity quite a bit, such that it almost seems they are its own separate album. “Message From Mars” is another Young product, this one typical of the incendiary jazz-rock material of his Lifetime days, and Chambers goes behind his trap set for this organ-drums frenzy. The muscular “Rock Pile” continues with that same energy, which is really “Mind Rain” repurposed into a prog-rock tune.
“Rock Pile” fading into silence is like a metaphor for Larry Young himself; these set of recordings were his final ones as he tragically died prematurely just a few months later in March of 1978. His contribution to Double Exposure was invaluable, but at the same time, this release does much to make people aware that Joe Chambers was — and is — much more than just a great jazz drummer. The re-release of Double Exposure should provoke a long overdue re-examination of a career that touched on several turning points in jazz using multiple talents.
Double Exposure is available now from many retail outlets, including Amazon.
| Image | Artist | Title | Format | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Joe Chambers | Double Exposure | Remastered Vinyl | Purchase Here |
 | Woody Shaw | Love Dance | Remastered Vinyl | Purchase Here |
 | Joe Chambers | Dance Kobina | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Joe Chambers | Horace To Max | CD | Purchase Here |
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