Will Lee (bassist)

Will Lee
Birth name	William Franklin Lee IV
Born	(1952-09-08) September 8, 1952 San Antonio, Texas, United States
Genres	Jazz, rock
Occupation(s)	Bassist, composer
Instruments	Bass guitar, voice, acoustic guitar, drums
Years active	1973–present
Notable instruments
Sadowsky Will Lee jazz bass

William Franklin "Will" Lee IV (born September 8, 1952) is an American musician and bassist, best known for his work on the CBS television program Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Lee has recorded or toured with many artists. Lee was also present on the Mark & Clark Bands hit record Worn Down Piano. Lee performs with his Beatles tribute band, The Fab Faux, which he co-founded in 1998.

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 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 $9 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 had a formal musical education at the University of Miami. He 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 Dreams. In New York, Lee's career 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. Before the Late Show begins taping, he often tosses 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

• In 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986, and 1987 Lee received the NARAS MVP Award for bass.
• In 1987, he received the NARAS MVP Award for male session singer.
• In 1989, he received the NARAS MVP Virtuoso Award for bass.
• In 2006 he received a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Some Skunk Funk along with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Jim Beard, Vince Mendoza, Marcio Doctor, and the WDR Big Band.
• In 2014, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Basses

Lee currently uses the Sadowsky Will Lee model, a 4 string jazz bass with a narrower nut width of 1.45" [37mm] instead of the usual 1.5" [38mm], 22 frets and a Hipshot D-tuner. The bass was built for him by Roger Sadowsky and has now become a production model within the line of Sadowsky basses.

Discography

• OH! (1993)
• Birdhouse (2006)
• Love, Gratitude and Other Distractions (2013)

As sideman

With Ace Frehley

• Ace Frehley-Solo Album (Casablanca,1978)

With Patti Austin

• End of a Rainbow (CTI, 1976)
• Havana Candy (CTI, 1977)
• Live at the Bottom Line (CTI, 1978)

With George Benson

• In Concert-Carnegie Hall (CTI, 1975)
• Benson & Farrell with Joe Farrell (CTI, 1976)

With Dan Brenner

• Little Dark Angel (2011)

With James Brown

• Dead on the Heavy Funk (1975-1983)

With Hiram Bullock

• 1986From All Sides (Atlantic Recording Company
• 1987: Give It What U Got (Atlantic)
• 1992: Way Kool (Atlantic)
• 1994: World of Collision (Big World)
• 1996: Manny's Car Wash (Big World)
• 2000: First Class Vagabond (JVC Victor)
• 2001: Color Me (Via)
• 2002: Best of Hiram Bullock (WEA)
• 2003: Try Livin' It (EFA Records)
• 2006: Guitarman (JVC Victor)
• 2006: Too Funky 2 Ignore (BHM Productions)

With Gary Burton

• Reunion (GRP, 1990)
• Cool Nights (GRP, 1991)

With Mariah Carey

• Emotions (Mariah Carey album) (Columbia, 1991)

With D'Angelo

• Brown Sugar (D'Angelo album)

With Chaka Khan

• Chaka (Atlantic, 1978)
• "Chaka Khan (Warner Bros, 1982)

With Art Farmer

• Crawl Space (CTI, 1977)
• Yama with Joe Henderson (CTI, 1979)

With Yusef Lateef

• In a Temple Garden (CTI, 1979)

With Herbie Mann

• Waterbed (Atlantic, 1975)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Towering Toccata (CTI, 1976)

With Don Sebesky

• The Rape of El Morro (CTI, 1975)

With Spyro Gyra

• Morning Dance (1979)
• Catching The Sun (1980)
• Carnaval (1980)
• Free Time (1981)
• Incognito (1982)

With Mike Stern

• is what it is (Atlantic Recording Company, 1994)
• These Times (Mike Stern album) (ESC Records,2004)
• All Over the Place (Mike Stern album) (Heads Up, 2012)

External links

• Will Lee Official Web Site.
• The Fab Faux.