In the Mix: Chris Amberger on the down low

Hidden treasure … hidden treasure right here in Petaluma. Sure, there are tons of excellent bass players who live and work in this neck of the woods, but Petaluma is lucky enough to claim its own world-class bass player as a resident. What do I mean by world-class? I mean a musician who can step on to any stage, with players of the highest caliber, and execute seamlessly across a multitude of genres.

Chris Amberger, originally from Waterbury, Conn., has performed and recorded jazz, blues, latin, soul, R&B, funk, country, Americana, and world music. He’s lived and worked in Oakland, San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles. When asked what he’s most known for, Chris was quick to say, “For the last 50 years, my reputation has been as a jazz bass player, playing upright bass.”

Freddie Hubbard (trumpet legend), Art Blakey (jazz drum innovator) and George Shearing (piano trio genius) are just three of the long list of international jazz performers who have called on Chris’s talents. Chris also plays Fender bass (bass guitar) and electric upright, an instrument that resembles a stand-up that’s been cut down to a smaller, more streamlined dimension and allows the player to bridge the gap between upright and electric bass guitar.

His family moved west when Chris was 13 and settled in Oakland. There was a rich jazz, soul and blues scene happening in the East Bay in the early 1960s, and it was those sounds that first grabbed Chris’s attention. He recalls, “I heard Charlie Hayden play bass when I was 16. He was playing a solo just 5 feet away from where I was sitting, and it really got to me. I just about ran down to Leo’s (a shop that catered to the pro’s at the time) and picked a bass out to rent, without even knowing what to look for.”

His first professional (paying) gig was a wedding in Los Angeles, playing with an avant garde jazz quartet. That type of music is pretty far off the beaten path for what one would expect to hear at such an event, but it’s just that freedom to play the unexpected that embodies Chris’s performance style. His solos are not just the execution of correct scales, they’re musical experiences. When you watch him play, you can see his fellow musicians react with awe and respect at the sheer joy of his performance.

Chris has been living in Petaluma since 1987. When asked what made him pick Petaluma, he recalled, “I wanted to get out of the city, and at the time, my wife and I felt Petaluma had everything we needed to raise a family.”

Twenty-eight years later, Chris is still doing his thing, lending his talents to any groups astute enough to know the experience and emotion he’ll bring to the stage.

When pressed, Chris admits that one of his fondest hopes is that pure jazz, not the “jazzy” or “jazzish” music that seems to litter the radio and Internet landscape, stays alive and finds a way to be performed by real players. He told me, “I remember when the Phoenix Theater sponsored an after-school jazz jam session. I got involved and it was great to open the kid’s ears up to the sound of real jazz.”

When I asked Chris about the future of jazz in Petaluma; he said, “I’d really like to see a professional and experienced club owner open a place, equip it with a regularly-tuned grand piano, and be dedicated to keeping the standards of players high - a venue designed for players who know how to perform with dynamics.” (note: playing with dynamics is the judicious use of volume) Let’s just hope Chris Amberger is involved in any jazz venture that occurs in Petaluma’s future. Club owners’ bottom line, as well as the audience’s collective soul, will reap the benefits.

(Sheldon Bermont is a longtime Petaluma musician. He can be reached by email at smb@sbermont writer.com)