Bill Lee, jazz musician who worked with Bob Dylan and on son Spike Lee’s early movies, dies at 94

FILE - Director Spike Lee, right, and his with sister, screenwriter Joie Lee, left, appear with their father Bill Lee at a screening of "Do The Right Thing" in New York on June 29, 2014. Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike’s early films, died Wednesday, May 24, 2023, according to Theo Dumont, a publicist for Spike Lee. He was 94. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)Andy Kropa/Andy Kropa /Invision/AP

NEW YORK — Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike’s early films, including the hit “Do the Right Thing” and two songs for “Jungle Fever,” died Wednesday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 94.

Spike Lee posted several photos of his father on his Instagram page announcing the death.

Mr. Lee was a session bassist who has played on albums by Odetta, Woody Guthrie, Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot, John Lee Hooker, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among many others. He can be heard on Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and Lightfoot’s “Oh, Linda.” He played on Aretha Franklin’s Columbia album debut in 1960, “Aretha.”

Mr. Lee wrote the soundtracks to Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing.” and “Mo’ Better Blues.” He also appeared in “Do the Right Thing.”

Bill Lee and Spike Lee were estranged after a falling out in the 1990s that the father attributed to his remarriage to Susan Kaplan.

In addition to Kaplan and Spike Lee, Mr. Lee leaves three sons, David, Cinque, and Arnold; a daughter Joie; a brother, A. Clifton Lee; and two grandchildren.