Will Lee (bassist)

Last updated
Will Lee
The World's Most Dangerous Band 1980s (cropped) - Will Lee.jpg
Will Lee in 1993
Background information
Born1952 (age 70–71)
Genres Jazz, rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Bass, vocals
Years active1973–present
Website www.willlee.com

Will Lee is an American bassist known for his work on the Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra and before that "The World's Most Dangerous Band" when Letterman hosted the NBC "Late Night" show. [1]

Contents

Lee has recorded and toured with many artists. He appeared on the Mark & Clark Band's hit record Worn Down Piano . He performs with his Beatles tribute band, The Fab Faux, [2] which he co-founded in 1998. [3]

Career

Beginnings in music

Lee was greatly influenced to pursue music because of his parents. His father, William Franklin Lee III played piano, trumpet and the upright bass professionally. Lee's mother Lois sang with big bands. Lee took up drums after seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show , and by the time he was 12 had formed his first band in Miami. The band members each earned $6 a night playing the popular surfing tunes characteristic of the 60s. With the great numbers of drummers in Miami, Lee shifted to bass, an instrument that offered more opportunities. Lee was part of a succession of bands including top 40 bands with names like "Chances R" "The Loving Kind", and "Green Cloud."

Lee studied French horn for a year and then switched to a bass major. After classes, he worked on bass fundamentals listening to not only the Beatles, but also Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, The Rascals, Motown, Sly & the Family Stone, among others. He would put it all into practice six sets a night playing with various local bands, including a horn band called "Goldrush."

Professional music career

Lee then went to New York City. Trumpeter Randy Brecker called Lee out of class one day and invited him to audition for jazz-rock group Dreams. He won the part and played on the album Imagine My Surprise as a bassist and vocalist. After Dreams disbanded, Lee's career as a session musician flourished, and he toured with many artists. Lee played in the New York "24th Street Band" which had great success in Japan, giving him a solo artist career that yielded him a top 5 single. Most recently, his solo CD entitled OH! reached the #1 position on the "Jazz Beyond" chart there. On January 20, 2016 Lee played bass with Christopher Cross at the Moody Theater in Austin, TX at a taping for Austin City Limits.

The CBS Orchestra

In 1982, Lee became one of the original members of The World's Most Dangerous Band, the house band on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman . He holds the distinction of playing with Paul Shaffer, on both Late Night and the Late Show, longer than any other member of the CBS Orchestra. [4] Before the Late Show began taping, he often tossed out guitar picks to the audience as souvenirs. On the May 13, 2015 episode of the Late Show with David Letterman , as Letterman was interviewing Paul Shaffer, Shaffer gave recognition to the members of his band, and lastly mentioned Lee as the "man has been with us on bass since the first night we were on Late Night, Will Lee."

Awards and honors

Basses

Lee uses the Sadowsky Will Lee model, 4 and 5-string Fender Jazz-style basses with a narrower nut width of 1.45" [37mm] instead of the usual 1.5" [38mm], 22 frets and a Hipshot D-tuner. This is the only instrument offered by Sadowsky that has a midrange control, an on-off toggle switch selectable between 500hz and 800hz. The bass was built for him by Roger Sadowsky and has now become a production model within the line of Sadowsky basses. [6]

Discography

As sideman

With Alessi Brothers

With Peter Allen

With Joan Armatrading

With Patti Austin

With Carole Bayer Sager

With Joe Beck

With Bee Gees

With George Benson

With Michael Bolton

With The Brecker Brothers

With Dan Brenner

With Hiram Bullock

With Gary Burton

With Peabo Bryson

With Irene Cara

With Mariah Carey

With Felix Cavaliere

With Beth Nielsen Chapman

With Cher

With Clarence Clemons

With Jimmy Cliff

With Linda Clifford

With Natalie Cole

With Judy Collins

With Randy Crawford

With Peter Criss

With Christopher Cross

With D'Angelo

With Sheena Easton

With Donald Fagen

With Art Farmer

With Roberta Flack

With Michael Franks

With Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

With Ace Frehley

With Steve Goodman

With Lawrence Gowan

With Al Green

With Henry Gross

With Arlo Guthrie

With Spyro Gyra

With Major Harris

With Cissy Houston

With Janis Ian

With Chaka Khan

With Yusef Lateef

With Lori Lieberman

With Fred Lipsius

With Steve Lukather

With Delbert McClinton

With Taj Mahal

With Melissa Manchester

With Barry Manilow

With Herbie Mann

With Meco

With Glenn Medeiros

With Melanie

With Bette Midler

With Liza Minnelli

With Tim Moore

With Kenny Nolan

With Laura Nyro

With Odyssey

With Leslie Pearl

With Esther Phillips

With Nicole Renée

With Vicki Sue Robinson

With Diana Ross

With David Sanborn

With Leo Sayer

With Lalo Schifrin

With Helen Schneider

With Diane Schuur

With Don Sebesky

With Neil Sedaka

With Janis Siegel

With Nina Simone

With Carly Simon

With Phoebe Snow

With Bert Sommer

With Dusty Springfield

With Ringo Starr

With Steely Dan

With Mike Stern

With Cat Stevens

With Barbra Streisand

With The Manhattan Transfer

With Bonnie Tyler

With Frankie Valli

With Narada Michael Walden

With Dionne Warwick

With Vanessa Williams

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References

  1. ↑ Bonacich, Drago. "Biography: Will Lee". Allmusic . Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Kahn, Ashley (2008-01-24). "Rebuilding The Beatles, Note by Note". NPR . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  3. ↑ Corrigan, John (2013-10-08). "Fab Faux don't look like the Beatles, but they do sound like them". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  4. ↑ Orr, John (2010-02-18). "Will Lee: Happy just to play for you". San Jose Mercury News . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  5. ↑ Paulson, Dave (2014-01-28). "Musicians Hall of Fame welcomes new inductees with concert, ceremony". The Tennessean . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  6. ↑ "Sadowsky Guitars | Will Lee Model". Sadowsky.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
  7. ↑ Fordham, John (2006-07-27). "Will Lee, Bird House". The Guardian . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  8. ↑ Fricke, David (2013-11-01). "Will Lee 'Love, Gratitude and Other Distractions' Review". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  9. ↑ "Better Believe It - Fred Lipsius | Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Grey, Hilarie (25 April 2019). "Fred Lipsius: Better Believe It". JazzTimes.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
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