Bill le Sage

about

Bill Le Sage was part of the first wave of British bebop musicians to emerge in the late 1940s, and remained a lifelong devotee and highly skilled exponent of the form throughout a long and distinguished career. He was a founder member of the most famous British bebop band of its day, the Johnny Dankworth Seven. The band was launched in 1950, by which time he was already fully conversant with the exciting new sounds which Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had developed in the clubs of New York's 52nd Street. Le Sage made his own pilgrimages to that shrine, working as a musician on the transatlantic liners in order to hear the progenitors of the form at first hand, a course adopted by many of his contemporaries. He told the story of his introduction to the famously grubby mecca of bebop many times. The liner on which he arrived docked at dawn precisely opposite the famous street, and Le Sage wandered along the deserted sidewalk until he encountered the only other person to be seen at that hour, and asked where the jazz was to be found. The man turned out to be trumpeter Red Rodney, then working with Charlie Parker. The became fast friends, and eventually worked together in Le Sage's band after Rodney's comeback in the mid-1980s. William A. Le Sage was born into a musical family. His father, also named William, was a drummer, his uncle George played trumpet and sax, and his uncle Ernie was a guitarist. His first instrument was ukelele, then he took up drums, before mov

top songs

albums

KPM 1000 Series: Vibraphone Jazz Quartet

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Blue Vibrations

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The KPM 1000 Series - Volume 1

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Presenting

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The KPM 1000 Series - Volume 2

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Vibraphone Jazz Quartet

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Midnite Blue

Bill's Recipes

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The KPM 1000 Series, Vol. 1

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Shade of Spring

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Another Happy Hour In The Ember Lounge

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Big Sound: Ember Soundtracks & Themes

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