Will Lee (born September 8, 1952) is an American bassist known for his work on the Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra, and The World's Most Dangerous Band during Letterman’s tenure as host of NBC’s Late Night. Lee has recorded and toured with many artists. He appeared on the Mark & Clark Band's hit record Worn Down Piano. He 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 Lois 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 $6 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 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 jazz-rock group Dreams. He won the part and played on the album Imagine My Surprise as a bassist and vocalist. After Dreams disbanded, Lee's career as a session musician 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 began taping, he often tossed 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 and honors

Basses

Lee uses the Sadowsky Will Lee model, 4 and 5-string Fender Jazz-style basses with a narrower nut width of 1.45" [37mm] instead of the usual 1.5" [38mm], 22 frets and a Hipshot D-tuner. This is the only instrument offered by Sadowsky that has a midrange control, an on-off toggle switch selectable between 500hz and 800hz. The bass was built for him by Roger Sadowsky and has now become a production model within the line of Sadowsky basses.

Discography

As sideman

With Alessi Brothers With Peter Allen With Joan Armatrading With Patti Austin With Aztec Camera With Carole Bayer Sager With Joe Beck With Bee Gees With George Benson With Michael Bolton With The Brecker Brothers With Dan Brenner With Hiram Bullock With Gary Burton With Peabo Bryson With Irene Cara With Mariah Carey With Felix Cavaliere With Beth Nielsen Chapman With Cher With Clarence Clemons With Jimmy Cliff With Linda Clifford With Natalie Cole With Judy Collins With Lou Courtney With Randy Crawford With Peter Criss With Christopher Cross With Ron Dante With D'Angelo With Sheena Easton With Enchantment With Donald Fagen With Art Farmer With Roberta Flack With Michael Franks With Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway With Ace Frehley With Steve Goodman With Lawrence Gowan With Al Green With Henry Gross With Arlo Guthrie With Spyro Gyra With Major Harris With Cissy Houston With Janis Ian With Chaka Khan With Kool & the Gang With Yusef Lateef With Lori Lieberman With Fred Lipsius With Steve Lukather With Delbert McClinton With Taj Mahal With Melissa Manchester With Barry Manilow With Herbie Mann With Meco With Glenn Medeiros With Melanie With Bette Midler With Liza Minnelli With Tim Moore With Kenny Nolan With Laura Nyro With Odyssey With Leslie Pearl With Esther Phillips With Nicole Renée With Vicki Sue Robinson With Diana Ross With David Sanborn With Leo Sayer With Lalo Schifrin With Helen Schneider With Diane Schuur With Don Sebesky With Neil Sedaka With Janis Siegel With Nina Simone With Carly Simon With Phoebe Snow With Bert Sommer With The Spinners With Dusty Springfield With Ringo Starr With Steely Dan With Mike Stern With Cat Stevens With Barbra Streisand With The Manhattan Transfer With Bonnie Tyler With Frankie Valli With Narada Michael Walden With Dionne Warwick With Vanessa Williams With Peter Wolf