Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Albert Bennington Lucas was born on November 16, 1916 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and took piano lessons as a child from his concert pianist mother, Francis Bradley Lucas. Eventually switching to bass and tuba at age 12, after moving to New York City in 1933 he played with Kaiser Marshall, then joined the Royal Sunset Orchestra, where he played from 1933 to 1942.

During the 1940s, Lucas appeared on record with 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.

He toured and recorded with Illinois Jacquet from 1947 to 1953, recording in Detroit with Jacquet’s all-star band which included Sonny Stitt, Leo Parker, Sir Charles Thompson, Maurice Simon and Shadow Wilson before returning to play with Heywood again from 1954 to 1956.

He also recorded in the 1950s with Ruby Braff, Charlie Byrd, and Teddy Wilson. In his last two decades he worked primarily as a studio musician backing up groups at Apollo Theater performances, playing jazz only occasionally. Double bassist Al Lucas passed away on June 19, 1983  in New York City.

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