Jack Lesberg

Jack Lesberg (February 14, 1920 – September 17, 2005) was an American jazz double-bassist.

Lesberg 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. He also performed in the New York City Symphony under Leonard Bernstein in the 1940s.

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Lesberg had the misfortune of playing in that city's 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 His escape was memorialized by fellow bassist Charles Mingus in an unpublished section of Mingus's autobiography Beneath the Underdog; this passage was read by rapper Chuck D. on the Mingus tribute album, Weird Nightmare.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 he spoke of the many bands and performers he worked with and expressed his feelings that he felt blessed to be a musician.

He died of Alzheimer's in Englewood at the age of 85.

Birth and Death Data: Born February 14, 1920 (Boston), Died September 17, 2005 (Englewood)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1942 - 1962

Roles Represented in DAHR: string bass, guitar

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 101-101 of 101 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca N 2710[a] 10-in. 9/29/1944 Home Max Kaminsky and his Band instrumentalist, string bass  
(Results 101-101 of 101 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Lesberg, Jack," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/205783.

Lesberg, Jack. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/205783.

"Lesberg, Jack." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/205783

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