Jazz Man Bill Lee

Abstract

Jazz Man Bill Lee Judson L. Jeffries Bill Lee was more than just Spike Lee’s father, he was an accomplished musician who worked with such greats as Duke Ellington, Harry Belafonte, Simon and Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Most notably, Lee’s work on Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is considered classic. A savant on the double bass, Lee found a home with Strata-East Records, a musician-owned label, and founded and directed the well-known New York Bass Violin Choir. He was also a poet, penned folk-jazz operas, and wrote the score for four films—She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, School Daze, and Mo’ Better Blues. About the New York Bass Violin Choir, Lee received favorable reviews from some critics who were impressed with the ensemble’s fluidity and ability to incorporate differing sonics in performing Lee’s folk operas at such landmarks as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and Town Hall. Lee’s operas included Baby Sweets, The Depot, and One Mile East. Lee’s versatility shone through at times when he served as bassist, singer, and narrator of his operas, which drew heavily from the harsh realities for Black life in his hometown of Snow Hill, Alabama, the birthplace of two other African Americans who made a name for themselves in the arts—Waverly Turner Carmichael and Noah S. Purifoy. Lee mastered the double bass, the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, while a student at Morehouse College from which he graduated in the early 1950s. Spelman College’s proximity to Morehouse College allowed Lee to take advantage of the resources offered there as well, singing in the glee club and performing in the school’s quartet. At some point after graduating college Lee decided to move to Chicago where he honed his craft at various spots and night clubs on the city’s South Side before ultimately making his way to New York City, the Mecca of Black Culture, in the late 1950s where he forged his reputation as a musician in places like the Five Spot and performed with some of the country’s great talents. It didn’t take long before Lee secured work with John Handy on No Coast Jazz. A few years later Lee appeared on Aretha Franklin’s debut album Aretha, by 1964 he was a central part of Simon and Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., the duo’s first album. From Lee’s standpoint, there was no better place on the planet for a jazz musician than Gotham City. [End Page 121] Born just one year before the country was beset by the Great Depression, Lee was exposed to music at an early age, as his father was Florida A & M University’s band director and his mother a classical concert pianist and teacher. Not surprisingly, he tried his hand at various instruments, including the piano, drums, and flute. It was the bass, however, for which Lee would become famous. And it was the traditional bass to which he remained loyal. He scoffed at the rising new wave of electric bass guitars that emerged in the 1970s, instead electing to stick with the double bass for which he was known. His life’s work spans several decades, thousands of live performances, and appearances on more than 250 albums. In other words, he’s more than just Spike Lee’s father. Lee died at his home on Wednesday May 24, 2023; he was 94. [End Page 122] Copyright © 2023 Trustees of Indiana University and The Ohio State University