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Bill Lee (1928-2023)


clifford_thornton

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RIP to a fascinating musician.  He was, of course, an expert jazz bassist and composer, but also did great work in a number of styles for Vanguard and other record labels.  Also had a profound effect on his son Spike (see "Crooklyn", based on the family, if you haven't).   For all the wide variety of work he did with Max Roach and so many others, his composing and playing on this cut is what I will always think of first when I hear his name.

 

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Sad to hear. He was all over the place in the 60s, playing with jazz groups, and folk groups; he played on 191 records! He played on the first acoustic version of "The Sound of Silence by S&G

I liked the songs he wrote for his son, but the strings sounded out of tune. I wonder why Spike fired his father for his soundtracks?

Frank Strozier featured his songs on Late Night and March of the Siamese Children, and spoke very highly of him as a composer.

I went to a jazz club once, and flipped out when I found the rhythm section for 'Long Night" was playing there; Chris Anderson, Bill, and Baby Sweets. Lee's wife was at the door, greeting people and taking the door in. When I told her that was my fave album, she started laughing, and told me to go up to the guys and tell them that. We got into a conversation about the record, and I told her I liked "The Man That Got Away" the most, and she seemed puzzled and asked me , "What about "How Little We Know"?"

That was one of those moments where I felt like I had gotten it all wrong, and I listened to HLWK closer, and I heard what she meant. After that, I played HLWK on every gig that I could call it on, wrote a big band arr. of it, composed a contrafact on it, and transcribed all the solos on it. Since they played it in F, I assumed the bass played a low F on the E string as the pedal bass, but something always seemed a little unfocused, and overpowering about that. I listened to the record again, and realized Bill was playing the F an octave higher than that, and that made all the difference. Thanks for the music lesson Bill, and Rest in Peace, Brother.

Edited by sgcim
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6 hours ago, kh1958 said:

But as far as I can tell, he never made a record as the leader (aside from Spike Lee soundtracks)?

Well... my understanding is that The New York Bass Violin Choir and The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe are pretty much his records. He also composed at least half of The Brass Company on Strata-East.

The music is collective in intent but I can't imagine any of those three LPs happening without him.

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55 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

Well... my understanding is that The New York Bass Violin Choir and The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe are pretty much his records. He also composed at least half of The Brass Company on Strata-East.

The music is collective in intent but I can't imagine any of those three LPs happening without him.

Unfortunately, I don't have those records.

Edited by kh1958
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2 hours ago, sgcim said:

Sad to hear. He was all over the place in the 60s, playing with jazz groups, and folk groups; he played on 191 records! He played on the first acoustic version of "The Sound of Silence by S&G

I liked the songs he wrote for his son, but the strings sounded out of tune. I wonder why Spike fired his father for his soundtracks?

Frank Strozier featured his songs on Late Night and March of the Siamese Children, and spoke very highly of him as a composer.

I went to a jazz club once, and flipped out when I found the rhythm section for 'Long Night" was playing there; Chris Anderson, Bill, and Baby Sweets. Lee's wife was at the door, greeting people and taking the door in. When I told her that was my fave album, she started laughing, and told me to go up to the guys and tell them that. We got into a conversation about the record, and I told her I liked "The Man That Got Away" the most, and she seemed puzzled and asked me , "What about "How Little We Know"?"

That was one of those moments where I felt like I had gotten it all wrong, and I listened to HLWK closer, and I heard what she meant. After that, I played HLWK on every gig that I could call it on, wrote a big band arr. of it, composed a contrafact on it, and transcribed all the solos on it. Since they played it in F, I assumed the bass played a low F on the E string as the pedal bass, but something always seemed a little unfocused, and overpowering about that. I listened to the record again, and realized Bill was playing the F an octave higher than that, and that made all the difference. Thanks for the music lesson Bill, and Rest in Peace, Brother.

According to Wikipedia:

Though Bill Lee scored his son's first four movies, they had a falling out shortly after the arrest on drug charges. By 1994, the elder Lee said they had not spoken in two years.[8]

Bill Lee said their problems started with his son's intolerance of his second marriage. The family feud began in 1976, when Spike Lee's mother Jacquelyn died of cancer and Susan Kaplan moved in with Bill.[1] Spike has been quoted as saying, "my mother wasn't even cold in her grave."[8] Bad feelings intensified with Jungle Fever, Spike Lee's film on interracial romantic relationships, as Kaplan was white.

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