Lee L. Blair (October 10, 1903,

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

– October 15, 1966,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) 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 ...

banjoist and guitarist. Blair was a left-handed

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

on banjo, aside from a few lessons taken from

Mike Pingitore Michael (Mike) Pingitore (or Pingatore) (1888–1952) was a member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Whiteman discovered him playing tenor banjo and he became part of the rhythm section for his newly-formed band for the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles ...

, the banjoist for

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...

. He played and recorded in NYC with Thomas Morris's Seven Hot Babies in 1926, played with

Charlie Skeete Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...

in 1926-28, then played and recorded with

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

Red Hot Peppers Red Hot Peppers was a recording jazz band led by Jelly Roll Morton from 1926–1930. It was a seven- or eight-piece band formed in Chicago that recorded for Victor and featured the best New Orleans-style freelance musicians available, includi ...

in 1928-30. He played with Billy Kato in 1930-31, then played and recorded with

Luis Russell Luis Russell (August 5, 1902 – December 11, 1963) was a pioneering Panamanian jazz pianist, orchestra leader, composer, and arranger. Career Luis Carl Russell was born on Careening Cay, near Bocas del Toro, Panama, in a family of African-Car ...

(1934–35) and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

(1935-40). He worked part-time in music through the 1940s, then joined Wilbur De Paris's New New Orleans Jazz Band in the 1950s at Jimmy Ryan's Club on West 52nd Street in New York City. In the summer of 1957 he toured in Africa with the DeParis band for the State Department. In the 1960s he played less, concentrating on raising chickens on his farm in Belmore, Long Island, but appeared at the

1964 World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

in a trio with

Danny Barker Daniel Moses Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994) was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s. One of Barker's earl ...

and Eddie Gibbs and freelanced around New York with Hank Duncan and others until he died. He never recorded as a leader, but appears on record with Morris, Morton, Russell, Armstrong, and De Paris, as well as with

Dick Cary Richard Durant Cary (July 10, 1916 – April 6, 1994) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Cary earned a bachelor's degree in music from Wesleyan University in 1938 and start ...

Pee Wee Erwin George "Pee Wee" Erwin (May 30, 1913 – June 20, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography He was born in Falls City, Nebraska, United States. Erwin started on trumpet at age four. He played in several territory bands before joining the gr ...

, and

Leonard Gaskin Leonard Gaskin (August 25, 1920 – January 24, 2009) was an American jazz bassist born in New York City. Gaskin played on the early bebop scene at Minton's and Monroe's in New York in the early 1940s. In 1944 he took over Oscar Pettiford's ...

among others. He is honored in the jazz section of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, GA.

References

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

, Lee Blairat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Lee 1903 births 1966 deaths American jazz banjoists American jazz guitarists Musicians from Savannah, Georgia 20th-century American guitarists