Al Lucas

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Al Lucas was a Canadian jazz double bassist. As a child he had piano lessons from his mother, a concert pianist, and at twelve he switched to double bass and tuba. In 1933 he moved to New York. There he played first with Kaiser Marshall and then, from 1933 to 1942, with the Sunset Royal Serenaders. His year of birth is given differently in the sources, 1912 or 1916, but his career is clear.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1940s he could be heard on records by Hot Lips Page, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Heywood, Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, James P. Johnson, J.J. Johnson, Ben Webster, Erroll Garner and Eddie South. From 1947 to 1953 he toured and recorded with Illinois Jacquet, including in Detroit with an all-star band. After that he played with Heywood again from 1954 to 1956. In the 1950s he also recorded with Ruby Braff, Charlie Byrd and Teddy Wilson.

Influence

Lucas was not a bandleader but a musician who supported others. He was the bassist who kept the rhythm and the chords in place, and he did that for many of the most important names in swing and bebop. In the last twenty years of his life he worked mainly as a studio musician, including at performances at the Apollo Theater, and only occasionally played jazz. He died in 1983 in New York. His name is thus on a remarkable number of records that shaped jazz history.

Listening

In School of Rock

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