Father and son Bill Lee (left) and Spike Lee. Photo by Ilya S. Savenok via Getty Images.
Bill Lee, Spike Lee’s father and a prolific jazz composer and bassist in his own right, has passed away, his son confirmed to The New York Times. Spike Lee told the Times that his father died in Brooklyn this morning (May 24) at the age of 94. He did not provide a cause of death.
The elder Lee wrote folk-jazz operas, led an acclaimed all-bass ensemble, and worked with a laundry list of legends (including his son) throughout a career that spanned six decades. Per the Times, his credit appears on more than 250 albums, including works by Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, Simon and Garfunkel, Harry Belafonte, Ian & Sylvia, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, and Peter, Paul and Mary. He also scored Spike’s first four films: She’s Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), and Mo’ Better Blues (1990). Bill and Spike had a falling out over family matters and finances in the early ’90s, however, effectively ending their creative partnership. Terrence Blanchard has been Spike’s primary composer ever since.
In addition to Spike, Bill Lee is survived by his wife Susan; his sons David, Cinque, and Arnold; his daughter Joie; and his brother A. Clifton Lee, as well as Spike’s two children, Satchell and Jackson.
