Bass Player: Will Lee

Will Lee has, for decades, been one of the most prolific session players in the centre of the New York music scene, playing several sessions a day and appearing with the house band on major network TV shows like the David Letterman Show. His list of recording credits numbers in the thousands and includes work with Steely Dan/Donald Fagan, The Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn and a host of others. In 1991, he recorded the ‘Cool Nights’ album with vibes player Gary Burton. The transcription is the opening tune from the album, ‘Going Home’ which features a intricate melody that alternates between the keys of F and Ab, presenting some challenges with changing keys in the middle of a score. Otherwise, the actual notes are a realtively easy read and it is fun to see how, when reading, you can play really complex harmonic material without having to ‘learn’ or ‘know’ a piece.

Note: the youtube link is to the whole ‘Cool Nights’ album but the transcription is for the opening tune so this shouldn’t be a problem.