NYTimes piece on Bill Lee: Jazz legend and father of Spike Lee

A Twitter friend, Alex Kantrowitz, recently interviewed Brooklynite Bill Lee, father of (movie director, producer, writer and actor) Spike Lee. He shares his history and advice for young musicians.

The videos and text are original content from The Local Fort Greene and Clinton Hill blog on the New York Times website. (Thank you, Alex!).  

Hot summer days in Brooklyn inevitably invoke Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” — a movie set in Brooklyn’s sweltering summer heat. Lee wrote, directed, produced and acted in the film. And his father, Bill Lee, composed the score.

We visited the place where Spike drew his inspiration for the film, and probably many others. It’s a brownstone on the border of Fort Greene Park, where his father still lives. It’s also a center for community music. 

We added subtitles in spots where the wind or passing traffic drowned out the voices.

The video above is a brief look into the lives of the Lees; Bill, his wife Susan and their son Arnold. They’ve become a mainstay, not only on the block, but in the broader New York jazz community.

Almost everyone who walked by the stoop said hello to the Lees, or at least gave a wave. A few minutes into our discussion, it was easy to see that the Lees are well liked, respected and appreciated by the neighborhood.

And they’re funny. If you watched our teaser for the interview, you saw the three Lees laughing as an ice cream truck passed by and provided an unwanted soundtrack to our interview. (We prefer the jazz Mr. Lee played for us, which we used as a soundtrack for the video.)

Another moment took place off-camera. The interview was long over, and a rich conversation about the neighborhood was taking place. Mr. Lee asked what time it was and said, “Oh, I’ll be back.” He hopped down the stairs, surprisingly nimble for a man in his eighties.

About twenty minutes later, Mr. Lee returned with some coffee and cookies, and was promptly scolded (lovingly) by his wife. He knew he wasn’t allowed to eat the junk food, but he couldn’t finish it on the way home from the shop. And boy, was he in trouble.

Mr. Lee will be playing this weekend at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, on the Lower East Side (Saturday, July 3 at 9 p.m.). It’s his birthday, so we’re assuming it’ll be a big party.

Many thanks to Steven Wood and Lamy from the Igor Lumpert trio for pointing us Bill’s way.

Alex Kantrowitz is a community contributor for The Local. See what he’s up to by following him on twitter: twitter.com/akantrowitz