Will Lee (born September 8, 1952) is an American jazz fusion bassist known for his work on the Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra and Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band during Letterman’s tenure as host of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman.
Lee has recorded and toured with many artists. He appeared on the Mark & Clark Band's hit record Worn Down Piano. He formerly performed a Beatles tribute band, the Fab Faux, which he co-founded in 1998.
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 a large numbers of drummers in Miami, Lee shifted to bass, an instrument that offered him 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, then switched to bass, which he studied at the University of Miami After classes, he worked on bass fundamentals by listening to not only the Beatles, but also Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, the Rascals, Motown, and 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.
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. He played in the New York 24th Street Band. His solo CD entitled OH! reached the No. 1 position on the "Jazz Beyond" chart there.
On January 20, 2016, Lee played bass with Christopher Cross at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, at a taping for Austin City Limits.
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."
NARAS MVP Award for bass guitar, 1979, 1982, 1985–1987
NARAS MVP Award for male session singer, 1987
NARAS MVP Virtuoso Award for bass guitar, 1989
Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Some Skunk Funk, with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Jim Beard, Vince Mendoza, Marcio Doctor, and the WDR Big Band, 2006
Inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014
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.
Interview with Will Lee, Making It! series by Terry Wollman, at YouTube