Donald "The Lamb" Lambert (February 12, 1904 – May 8, 1962) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

stride pianist born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, United States, perhaps best known for playing in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

night clubs throughout the 1920s. Lambert was taught piano by his mother but never learned to read music. With his particularly rapid left hand striding technique, he was a formidable opponent in

cutting contest A cutting contest was a musical battle between various stride piano players from the 1920s to the 1940s, and to a lesser extent in improvisation contests on other jazz instruments during the swing era. Up to the present time, the expression ''cu ...

s. On one occasion, Lambert challenged

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

at a jazz concert where other famous players were present. Lambert's discography is sparse: the only commercial recordings under his name were four titles made for RCA's

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

label in 1941, in which he interpreted classical themes: Richard Wagner's Pilgrim's Chorus from ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

'', "

Anitra's Dance ''Peer Gynt'', Op. 23, is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Grieg l ...

" by Edvard Grieg, Gaetano Donizetti's Sextet from ''

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

'', and

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

's '' Élégie''. However, several compilations were released in the 1980s containing live recordings dating from 1959–62. Lambert appeared at the 1960

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

, alongside

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote ''Shuffle Along'', one of the first Bro ...

and

Willie "The Lion" Smith William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholf Smith (November 23, 1893 – April 18, 1973), nicknamed "The Lion", was an American jazz and stride pianist. Early life William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholf, known as Willie, was born in 1893 in Goshen, ...

and was said to have outplayed both of them. His nicknames included the "Jersey Rocket", "The Lamb", "Muffin", and "The Lamb of God".

Discography

* RCA

rance Rance may refer to: Places * Rance (river), northwestern France * Rancé, a commune in eastern France, near Lyon * Ranče, a small settlement in Slovenia * Rance, Wallonia, part of the municipality of Sivry-Rance ** Rouge de Rance, a Devonian ...

741.118/9 ''Harlem Stride Pianists 1960-1962'' (included the four Bluebird sides from 1941) * IAJRC ''Donald Lambert: Meet the Lamb'' * Pumpkin ''Harlem Stride Classics''

References

6. Riccardo Scivales (1990). Harlem Stride Piano Solos. Ekay Music. ISBN 0-943748-43-7. 7. * Riccardo Scivales: ''Jazz Piano: The Left Hand'' (Bedford Hills, New York: Ekay Music, 2005). A method covering practically all the left-hand techniques (Lambert's too) used in jazz piano (and also a study of the history of the left hand in jazz piano), with hundreds of musical examples.

External links

A picture of Lambert's Grave Marker at the Princeton Cemetery
1904 births 1962 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists Stride pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-pianist-stub