Bill Lee

Trumpeter Theo Croker called Lee "one of the great American composers of our time. His harmonic beauty was unique and his choice of melody always struck a chord inside of the listener. He was a masterful orchestrator of imagery." In 2008, The New York Times noted that "His music has the complex harmonies of bebop and hard bop, but it also has a sincere, down-home, churchy feel. His passages move to interesting and unexpected places, but they resolve before long in a way that is simple and sincere, earthy and somehow very satisfying." Featured in more than 250 record albums, and on such songs as "Puff, the Magic Dragon" and "Mr. Tambourine Man," Lee also appeared in several movies made by his son, acclaimed film-maker Spike Lee, in addition to creating original soundtracks for She's Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), and Mo' Better Blues (1990).

• Name — Bill Lee • Birth Name — William James Edwards Lee • Alias — William J. E. Lee • Born — 23 July 1928 • Birthplace — Snow Hill, Alabama, U.S. • Died — 24 May 2023 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Instrument — Double bass, bass guitar • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Composer, conductor, actor • Label — Strata-East Records, Columbia Records • Past Member Of — Aretha Franklin, Odetta, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Terence Blanchard

Lee's childhood was described by Strata-East co-founder Charles Tolliver as "the personification of the Black musicians' experience after Reconstruction." One of seven musical siblings, Lee was born in Snow Hill, Alabama in 1928, the son of Arnold Wadsworth Lee, a cornet player and band director at Florida A&M University, and Alberta Grace (née Edwards), a concert pianist. "My learning in music started with my mother and father," Lee said. A 1951 graduate of the historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Lee "discovered the bebop recordings of Charlie Parker," which led to him "master[ing] the double bass,... and performing with small jazz groups in Atlanta and Chicago before migrating to New York City in 1959". A sideman for some of the most famous names in music, Lee was also often the only other musician performing, including on the original release of Dylan's 1965 classic "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and on Gordon Lightfoot's "Oh, Linda" from the prize-winning 1964 eponymous album. Other musical collaborators included: • Chris Anderson • Burt Bacharach • Eric Bibb • The Clancy Brothers • Judy Collins • Stanley Cowell • Carolyn Hester • John Lee Hooker • Clifford Jordan • Cat Stevens • Chad Mitchell Trio • Ian & Sylvia • Odetta • Mamas & Papas • Malvina Reynolds • Harold Mabern • Carmen McRae • Tom Rush • Tom Paxton • Charles Tolliver • Harold Vick • Josh White • The Womenfolk • Olatunji Yearwood

• Music director and performer on the song "Nola," She's Gotta Have It, Island, 1986. • Music conductor of Natural Spiritual Orchestra, School Daze, Columbia, 1988. • Music conductor of Natural Spiritual Orchestra, Do the Right Thing, Universal, 1989. • Music director, Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990. • Composer of score for the short film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.

• Sonny Darling, She's Gotta Have It, Island, 1986. • Bassist in the Phyllis Hyman Quartet, School Daze, Columbia, 1988. • Father of the Bride, Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990.

In 1954, Lee married Jacqueline ("Jackie") Shelton, an art teacher, the same year she graduated from Atlanta's historically Black Spelman College. Together, they had five children: film director Spike Lee (b. 1957), Christopher (b. 1958, d. 2013), still photographer David Lee (b. 1961), screenwriter and actress Joie Lee (b. 1962), and filmmaker Cinqué Lee (b. 1966). In 1959, the family moved to Fort Greene, Brooklyn. In 1976, Jackie died of cancer, and Susan Kaplan, whom Lee later married, moved in. They are the parents of alto saxophone player Arnold ("T@NE") Lee (b. 1985). Spike Lee had a negative public reaction to his father's new relationship, and has been quoted as saying, "My mother wasn't even cold in her grave." Hard feelings between the two intensified after Spike Lee released Jungle Fever, a film about the beginning and end of an extramarital interracial relationship, which was interpreted as a judgment on Lee and Kaplan's relationship, given the latter's race. On October 25, 1991, Lee was arrested for carrying a small bag of heroin during a police drug sweep of a park near his home. Although the case was dismissed, Lee would later say of his arrest, "I'm glad I was arrested. It woke me up.... Dope was not part of my life until I was 40 years old". Soon after, however, Lee and Spike Lee had a falling out. In 1994, the elder Lee said they had not spoken in two years. On May 24, 2023, Lee died at his home in Fort Greene. He was 94.