Sonny Rollins Elected as Member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Jack Bowers

Senior Contributor since 1997

A former newspaper writer / editor who has been writing about big-band Jazz for more than fifteen years.

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Published: May 7, 2010

Which brings us to another writer of note, Gene Lees, a transplanted Canadian who was widely known and respected for his jazz essays and biographies of such music greats as Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman and Johnny Mercer. Lees died April 22 at his home in Ojai, California. He was 82 years old. Lees was also a composer and lyricist who wrote the words to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars" and pianist Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby," among other songs. Lees served as editor of DownBeat magazine from 1959-61 before striking out on his own as a writer, critic and historian. In 1981 he founded the Gene Lees Newsletter, which he maintained until his passing. Among Lees' 18 books are Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing; Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White; Leader of the Band: The Life of Woody Herman and You Can't Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt and Nat. At the time of his death, Lees was completing work on a biography of Artie Shaw.

And that's it for now. Until next time, keep swingin'!

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