Lisle Atkinson, Harlem Speaks guest on Thursday, March 22, 2007, grew up in Brooklyn and began studying the violin at the age of four, giving his first concert at the age of six. He’s the oldest of three siblings of his parents Aenid and Albert, both violin players. They met while playing in the Dean Dixon Symphony Orchestra. His mother turned to piano and his father took up the bass, and was Atkinson’s first influence when he began playing the bass violin at the age of twelve.  

Atkinson explained to interviewers Christian McBride and Loren Schoenberg that his father listened to a lot of Duke Ellington, so he heard the legendary Jimmy Blanton early on. Later, Oscar Pettiford and Charles Mingus (with whom he became close) set the standard of bass excellence for him. Of Pettiford, Atkinson says he was impressed by his two-finger approach; of Mingus, “I loved his freedom. He could play what he wanted, when he wanted.” 

He attended Music and Art High School in New York City, where he played in the school’s orchestra, and befriended alto saxophonist Bobby Capers, multi-reed man George Braith, and bassist John B. Williams.  

Upon graduation, Atkinson entered Manhattan Music Conservatory, where he received a degree in Music. His first pro gig took place in Pittsburgh in 1959 while still in college.  

Percussionist Montego Joe introduced him to vocalist Nina Simone, for whom he performed for five years from 1961. “She was very cordial to me, and was the first to recognize my bowing skills. She was very talented, and set a mood that you’d never forget.”  

One of the most telling anecdotes about his tenure with Simone recounted her request for him to play the electric bass guitar for a date at The Plugged Nickel in Chicago in the mid-’60s. Since Dizzy Gillespie’s group incorporated that instrument Simone and her husband and manager, Andy Stroud, wanted Atkinson to play it “on a few tunes.” During rehearsal, a few became three, then four, until Atkinson had enough: he took the rented instrument and bashed it against the wall! He stormed out, intending to leave for home that very night.  

But Stroud convinced him to come back, after assuring him that they wouldn’t mention the electric bass again. 

In 1970 he joined the group of another unique stylist: Betty Carter. Her rhythm section was rounded out by drummer Al Harewood and pianist Norman Simmons, both in the audience this night. McBride marveled over the power of the ensemble’s work on “Betty Carter at the Village Vanguard,” and Atkinson said that Carter was in many ways “the opposite of Nina Simone, but they were both unique.” He emphasized Carter’s extensive arrangements and their rehearsals at her home in Brooklyn. 

Around this time he also began teaching bass and sight-reading for Jazzmobile, and performing with Bill Lee and the Bass Choir, which also featured Richard Davis, Ron Carter, Milt Hinton and Sam Jones. He said there were also memorable years with guitarist Kenny Burrell, and performances with Benny Carter, playing along with Loren Schoenberg. 

He also discussed the jazz art of the bassist and drummer locking their groove together to create powerful swing; the difficulty of maintaining one’s identity during the Civil Rights era (and Miles Davis’s example keeping him on track); playing in the Billy Taylor Trio in 1971; and the pleasures of performing with Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Nancy Wilson, and Dakota Staton. He’s often found these days in collaboration with Danny Mixon and Rudy Lawless, both previous guests of Harlem Speaks. Lawless was present, as was pianist Valerie Capers. 

Several members of his Neo-Bass Ensemble (including his wife Karen, Jay Starks, and Phil Watkins) performed with Atkinson on Bill Evans’s “Blue in Green” and Kenny Dorham’s jazz standard, “Prince Albert,” based on the chord changes to “All the Things You Are.” 

To hear this rare and exciting ensemble live, Atkinson invites you to hear them at Symphony Space on June 16, 2007 in a tribute to Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Betty Carter.