Bill Lee

[bertrand]

Can anyone help me pin down the personnel on Bill Lee's soundtrack to his son Spike's 'joint' She's Gotta Have It? I have the tape somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

The musicians are:

Virgil Jones

Harold Vick

Stanley Cowell

Bill Lee

Joe Chambers

with Cedar Walton and Kenny Washington on some tracks (and vocals by Ronnie Dyson).

I'm trying to figure out on which tunes Walton and Washington replace Cowell and Chambers.

Thanks,

Bertrand.

[relyles]

Can anyone help me pin down the personnel on Bill Lee's soundtrack to his son Spike's 'joint' She's Gotta Have It? I have the tape somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

The musicians are:

Virgil Jones

Harold Vick

Stanley Cowell

Bill Lee

Joe Chambers

with Cedar Walton and Kenny Washington on some tracks (and vocals by Ronnie Dyson).

I'm trying to figure out on which tunes Walton and Washington replace Cowell and Chambers.

Thanks,

Bertrand.

If you do not already have the info, I have the LP and will try to dig it up to see what info is there.

[bertrand]

I found my tape in between, but the info is confusing - it seems to claim that both Walton and Cowell play on some tracks.

I think I have concluded the following:

It's Chambers and Cowell on all tracks except the various takes of 'Nola'.

On the various takes of 'Nola' (one of which is a piano solo), it's Walton and Kenny Washington.

Does your LP seem to imply this as well?

Thanks,

Bertrand.

Edited August 3, 2006 by bertrand

[relyles]

I found my tape in between, but the info is confusing - it seems to claim that both Walton and Cowell play on some tracks.

I think I have concluded the following:

It's Chambers and Cowell on all tracks except the various takes of 'Nola'.

On the various takes of 'Nola' (one of which is a piano solo), it's Walton and Kenny Washington.

Does your LP seem to imply this as well?

Thanks,

Bertrand.

I will have to locate the LP when I go home this evening and get back to you.

[bertrand]

Thanks, Ronald, no rush on this. I susepct the LP has the exact same info as the tape, so it's more a question of whether you interpret it the same way I did.

Bertrand.

[relyles]

Thanks, Ronald, no rush on this. I susepct the LP has the exact same info as the tape, so it's more a question of whether you interpret it the same way I did.

Bertrand.

Bertrand,

I located the LP last night and it does seem to have the same confusing info with the "*" for the musicians on a couple of tracks.

[bertrand]

Listening to this again, it's definitely not Joe Chambers on 'Nola'. I really have learned to recognize his playing over the years, after all the listening I have done.

Bertrand.

[Rabshakeh]

On Bill Lee specifically, I have noticed that he is heavily involved in a number of later Strata-East records, many of which might be euphemistically described as "community projects", the record A Fresh Viewpoint being a good example.

It is interesting that, at a time when many musicians were not able to record at all, Bill Lee was able to be comparatively prolific, and that he used this platform to release such odd records. 

Does anyone have any insight into how this came about, or Lee's network, standing, and behind the scenes role in what I assume was the New York scene at the time? 

[bertrand]

These are all very interesting questions and I wish someone had really talked to him years ago about his life and career. There is an interview on YouTube which has its merits but is pretty shallow. He was already having memory lapses.

[felser]

He did a lot of non-jazz studio work for labels like Vanguard.  Also, watch Spike Lee's autobiographical movie 'Crooklyn' for insight on Bill's work in that period.  Those latter Strata-East records were self-produced musician's collective works and IIRC much more obscure than the initial S-E releases.