Jack Lesberg

Jack Lesberg (February 14, 1920 – September 17, 2005)[1] was an American jazz double-bassist.

Jack Lesberg
Jack Lesberg, Max Kaminsky, and Peanuts Hucko, Eddie Condon's, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947. Image: Gottlieb
Jack Lesberg, Max Kaminsky, and Peanuts Hucko, Eddie Condon's, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947. Image: Gottlieb
Background information
Born(1920-02-14)February 14, 1920
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 17, 2005(2005-09-17) (aged 85)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
GenresSwing, Big band
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Double bass

Lesberg performed with many famous jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jack Teagarden, Sarah Vaughan and Benny Goodman, with whom he went on several international tours.[2] He also performed in the New York City Symphony under Leonard Bernstein in the 1940s.[3]

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, United States,[1] Lesberg had the misfortune of playing in that city's Cocoanut Grove on the night in 1942 when 492 people lost their lives in a fire. His escape was memorialized by fellow bassist Charles Mingus in an unpublished section of Mingus's autobiography Beneath the Underdog; this passage was read by rapper Chuck D. on the Mingus tribute album, Weird Nightmare.

Lesberg continued to tour in the 1980s and was interviewed for KCEA radio in 1984, following a performance in Menlo Park, California. During the taped interview he spoke of the many bands and performers he worked with and expressed his feelings that he felt blessed to be a musician.

He died of Alzheimer's in Englewood at the age of 85.[1]

Discography
As co-leader
  • We've Got Rhythm/Live at Hanratty's (Chaz Jazz, 1981)
  • No Amps Allowed (Chiaroscuro)
As sideman
  • Dixieland Jazz (Waldorf, 1957)
  • Tribute to Louis Armstrong (Jugoton, 1985)
  • Tribute to Louis Armstrong Vol. 2 (Jugoton, 1989)
  • The Music of Lil Hardin Armstrong (Chiaroscuro, 1988)

With George Barnes

  • Guitar in Velvet (Grand Award, 1957)
  • Country Jazz (Colortone, 1957)
  • Movin' Easy (Mercury, 1959)
  • Guitar Galaxies (Mercury, 1960)
  • Guitars Galore (Mercury, 1961)

With Ruth Brown

With Urbie Green

With Coleman Hawkins

With Johnny Hodges

With the Henri René Orchestra

With Eddie Condon

With Ralph Sutton & Ruby Braff

References
  1. "Jack Lesberg, 85; Played Bass With Jazz Greats, Two Symphonies". Los Angeles Times. 6 October 2005. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  2. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 255/6. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  3. Chinen, Nate (October 5, 2005). "Jack Lesberg, 85, Bass Player Who Worked With Jazz Greats, Dies". The New York Times.


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