John Lee (musician)


John Lee is an American bassist, producer and recording engineer.
As a bassist, Lee's career, starting in 1970, includes work with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Joe Henderson, Larry Coryell, Paquito D'Rivera, Gregory Hines, Claudio Roditi, Arturo Sandoval, Joachim Kühn and Philip Catherine.
As a producer Lee has produced over 50 albums and CDs, and as a recording engineer he has recorded and mixed over 85 albums and CDs.

Life and career

John Gregory Lee is the son of an African Methodist Episcopal minister, Rev. John W. Lee, and Harriet Holland Lee, who was a career social worker. He grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, Amityville, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John began String Bass lessons in 1962 with Carolyn Lush. At Philadelphia's Overbrook High School, John met drummer Gerry Brown, with whom he also studied with at the Philadelphia Musical Academy from 1970 to 1972. In 1971 Lee also began performing with Carlos Garnett and Joe Henderson, and toured with Max Roach thru the spring of 1972 while still a student in Philadelphia. In August 1972 he and Brown relocated to Europe, with Den Haag, Holland as their base. Together they toured Europe and recorded in bands led by Chris Hinze, Charlie Mariano, Philip Catherine, Joachim Kühn, and Jasper Van't Hof. Lee moved to New York City in October 1974 and worked with Joe Henderson, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Norman Connors until joining Larry Coryell's 11th House in December 1974. In 1975 John Lee and Gerry Brown signed a recording contract with Blue Note Records and formed a working band of their own. In 1977 they moved over to Columbia Records. Lee also began producing records in 1977. From 1982 to 1984 Lee worked with the McCoy Tyner Quintet. In July 1984 Lee became Dizzy Gillespie's bassist, touring and recording with Dizzy's Quintet, his Big Band, his grammy winning United Nation Orchestra, and the Back to the Future Band that Dizzy co-lead with Miriam Makeba until January 1993 when he died.
Lee has performed at concert halls and jazz clubs in over 100 countries around the world.
He has also toured in the bands of Sonny Rollins, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Pharoah Sanders, Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz, Gregory Hines, Hank Jones, Walter Davis Jr., Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Alphonse Mouzon, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, and Roberta Gambarini. Lee was also a founding member of The Fantasy Band 1993-1996 with Chuck Loeb, Marion Meadows, and Dave Samuels.
In 1996, at the bequest of Dizzy's wife Lorraine Gillespie and the Dizzy Gillespie Estate, Lee became the director and bassist of the Dizzy Gillespie™Alumni All-Stars as well as the Dizzy Gillespie™All-Star Big Band, and the Dizzy Gillespie™Afro-Cuban Experience. They have recorded five albums and toured extensively around the world.
In 2009 John Lee co-founded the jazz recording label JLP, with partner Lisa Broderick.

Albums as a leader

'With Chris Hinze
With James Moody, Sahib Shihab, Jeremy Steig, Chris Hinze
With Wim Stolwijk
With Charlie Mariano
With Toots Thielemans
With Philip Catherine
With Jasper Van't Hof
With Joachim Kuhn
With Toto Blanke
With Piano Conclave w/Gruntz, Dauner, Van't Hof, Kühn & Solal
With Larry Coryell & The 11th House
With Luther Allison
With Kalyan
With Art Webb
With Bruce Fisher
With Tony Silvester & The New Ingredient
With Mike Mandel
With The Visitors, Earl & Carl Grubbs
With Eddie Henderson
With Blue Note All-Stars
With Alphonse Mouzon
With CBS All-Stars
With Ellen McIlwaine
With Danny Toan
With Stu Goldberg
With Bob Malach
With George Acogny
With Hubert Eaves
With McCoy Tyner
With Dizzy Gillespie
With Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band
With Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra
With Claudio Roditi
With Fantasy Band
With Young MC
With Mike Longo
With Slide Hampton
With LLL Mental
With Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars
With Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band
With Nancy Wilson
With Roy Hargrove and the RH Factor
With Karl Latham
With Wolfgang Lackerschmid
With Michael Urbaniak & Wolfgang Lackerschmid
With Stephanie Slesinger
With Johannes Mössinger
With Yotam Silberstein