William James Edwards Lee III (July 23, 1928 – May 24, 2023 Snow Hill, AL) was an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin, his compositions for jazz percussionist Max Roach, and his session work as a “first-call” musician and band leader to many of the twentieth-century’s most significant musical artists, including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Strayhorn, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger, among many others.

Lee recorded three critically acclaimed albums at the Black independent label Strata-East Records: (1) The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe: A Spirit Speaks; (2) The Brass Company: Colors, in collaboration with his two sisters; and (3) The New York Bass Violin Choir, a collaboration of seven basses, which JazzdaGama described as “a true Holy Grail for all musicians,” and which Lee classified as one of his “narrative folk, jazz operas” along with “One Mile East,” both of which were inspired by memories of the former slave quarters near his childhood home. Stagings at New York City’s Central Park, Lincoln Center and Newport Jazz Festival followed all of these recordings.

Trumpeter Theo Croker called Lee “… [O]ne of the great American composers of our time. His harmonic beauty was unique and his choice of melody always struck a chord inside of the listener. He was a masterful orchestrator of imagery.” In 2008, The New York Times noted that “His music has the complex harmonies of bebop and hard bop, but it also has a sincere, down-home, churchy feel. His passages move to interesting and unexpected places, but they resolve before long in a way that is simple and sincere, earthy and somehow very satisfying.”

Featured in more than 250 record albums, and on such songs as “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Lee also appeared in several movies made by his son, acclaimed film-maker Spike Lee, in addition to creating original soundtracks for She’s Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), and Mo’ Better Blues (1990).