Quick Facts
Biography
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 His escape was memorialized by fellow bassist Charles Mingus in an unpublished section of Mingus's autobiography Beneath the Underdog; this passage was read by rapper Chuck D. on the Mingus tribute album Weird Nightmare.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
- We've Got Rhythm/Live at Hanratty's (Chaz Jazz, 1981)
- No Amps Allowed (Chiaroscuro)
- 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 (musician)
- 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
- Ruth Brown (Atlantic, 1957)
With Johnny Hodges
- Blue Rabbit (Verve, 1964)
- 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)