Jack Lesberg
Jack Lesberg | |
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Jack Lesberg, Max Kaminsky, and Peanuts Hucko, Eddie Condon's, New York, N.Y., ca. May 1947. Image: Gottlieb | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Jack Lesberg |
Born | February 14, 1920 |
Died | September 17, 2005 85) | (aged
Genres | Swing, Big band |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Double bass |
Jack Lesberg (February 14, 1920 – September 17, 2005) was a jazz double-bassist.
He 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.
Lesberg had the misfortune of playing in the 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 His escape was memorialized by fellow bassist Charles Mingus in an unpublished section of Mingus's autobiography Beneath the Underdog; this passage was read by rapper Chuck D. on the Mingus tribute album Weird Nightmare.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 Jack spoke of the many bands and performers he worked with and expressed his feelings that he felt blessed to be a musician.
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 Ruth Brown
- Ruth Brown (Atlantic, 1957)
With Johnny Hodges
- Blue Rabbit (Verve, 1964)
- With the Henri René Orchestra
- RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt (RCA, 1953)
- That Bad Eartha (EP) (RCA, 1954)
- Down To Eartha (RCA, 1955)
- That Bad Eartha (LP) (RCA, 1956)
- Thursday's Child (RCA, 1957)
With Eddie Condon
- In Japan (Chiaroscuro, 1964)
With Ralph Sutton & Ruby Braff
- R & R (Chiaroscuro, 1994)
References
- Barry Kernfeld. "Jack Lesberg". In L. Root, Deane. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. (subscription required)
- Jack Lesberg at Discogs