guitarist lawrence lucie

[alocispepraluger102]

was featured till 9pm eastern on wkcr.

Edited December 19, 2007 by alocispepraluger102

[Elissa]

Pictures I took of him (with my phone) there 3 years ago. Happy 100th Bday!

[Christiern]

Thanks for sharing the photos. Lucie is remarkable, I used to watch his public access show here in NY. Probably the last living musician to have recorded w. Jelly Roll Morton.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Thank you for sharing those photos, Elissa.

[Elissa]

My pleasure. All heart that man. I drove him home after the interview. Never met a sweeter bloke.

[brownie]

Nice story about Lawrence Lucie in The New York Times today.

LIVING TO 100, AND LOOKING BACK ON A LEGACY OF NEW YORK JAZZ

By John Eligon

Published: December 19, 2007

Lawrence Lucie no longer has the jet-black hair, the stylish suits or the dexterity that made him one of the pre-eminent rhythm guitarists in the jazz world. But he can still draw a crowd.

On the eve of his 100th birthday on Monday night, Mr. Lucie, sitting in a wheelchair, could not go 20 seconds without receiving an embrace, a pat on the back or a handshake from one of the many jazz connoisseurs gathered at the offices of the musicians’ union in Midtown Manhattan. The well-wishers were there to pay homage to his legacy.

And it is quite impressive.

He is the last living person to have performed with Duke Ellington at New York’s legendary Cotton Club. He played with Benny Carter at the Apollo Theater in 1934, the year it opened its doors to black customers. He played with Louis Armstrong for several years and was the best man at his wedding.

“The most amazing thing about him is how many great musicians he worked with,” said Dan Morgenstern, the director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, who was at the party. “It’s like a whole living history of jazz. He’s on so many important records.”

Though Mr. Lucie does not share the fame of some of the stars he played with, the appreciation for him was clearly evident Monday night.

The celebration included performances by jazz musicians. People sang “Happy Birthday” and showered him with gifts and cards. Mr. Lucie seemed to be taking all the attention in stride.

After a woman greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, he smirked and said, “See, I know everybody.” Later, he pointed toward the birthday cards on a table in front of him and said, “I’ve got a lot to read tomorrow.”

Another celebration for Mr. Lucie was held on Tuesday at the Kateri Residence, a nursing home on the Upper West Side, where he has lived for more than two years. There, two men played guitar, Mr. Lucie was given three cakes, and he received a letter signed by President Bush and his wife.

Mr. Lucie said he hoped to attend a party that the Duke Ellington Society was holding in his honor on Wednesday night at St. Peter’s Church, on Lexington Avenue at 54th Street.

He said he could not have imagined all the publicity when he moved to New York from his home in Virginia as a teenager more than 80 years ago to study guitar.

“I was just worried about playing,” he said. “I just feel very lucky to be alive.”

Mr. Lucie was born on Dec. 18, 1907, in Emporia, Va., and he started learning music nearly as soon as he could walk. His father was a jazz musician who also worked as a barber. By the time he was 8, Mr. Lucie was playing with his father’s band, said Phil Schaap, a jazz historian and professor at Juilliard.

When he was 19, Mr. Lucie moved to New York to pursue his passion for the guitar. He worked as a barber during the day and studied at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory, Mr. Schaap said.

Around 1931, Mr. Lucie filled in for a week at the Cotton Club for Duke Ellington’s guitarist. Mr. Lucie’s career blossomed between 1932 and 1934, when he played with Benny Carter. After that, he worked with the likes of Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins, Jelly Roll Morton and Billie Holiday.

“Larry had the goods,” Mr. Schaap said.

Mr. Lucie taught guitar at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for more than three decades, until about three years ago, Mr. Schaap said. In the 1970s, he started a jazz show on a Manhattan cable TV station with his wife, Nora Lee King. It ended when she died in the 1990s. Mr. Lucie played gigs in the city for most of the past 80 years. His final show was at Arturo’s, a restaurant and bar in Greenwich Village, where he gave a solo performance on Sunday nights until 2005.

Mr. Lucie said his father’s advice helped him enjoy his success in jazz and his longevity.

“I didn’t have but one woman at a time,” he said. “I didn’t drink a lot of whiskey. I did what my father told me to do.”

[Big Beat Steve]

I first came across Lawrence Lucie's name in the late 70s when I noticed the ads for his guitar classes in DOWN BEAT (my favorite reading matter on longer train journeys so I occasionally bought a copy at the newsstands). At that time that name did not mean anything to me and it wasn't until quite some time later that I became aware of him in the line-up of many 30s black name bands.

A full 100 years old ... amazing! Many happy returns (and he certainly did not look like 70 years old back then in those DB ads!).

Edited December 19, 2007 by Big Beat Steve