Bruce Lawrence, shown here with his double bass, retired from the Seattle Symphony in 2005. (Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times)
The bassist, who started his career playing alongside jazz greats such
as Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane, also had a deep and abiding love
for classical music. Born in Harlem, he died in Bothell on Aug. 31,
2015.
Bruce Lawrence, the first African American to join the Seattle
Symphony, and who started his career playing alongside jazz greats such
as Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Mary Lou Williams, has died. He
was 88.
Mr. Lawrence died Aug. 31, in the home that he shared with his wife, Josie, in Bothell.
Mr. Lawrence died Aug. 31, in the home that he shared with his wife, Josie, in Bothell.
While he got his start in jazz, he preferred classical.
“Classical, I think, was his first love,” said his daughter Idelle Lawrence, of Auburn. “It was the mellowness of it.”
“He loved Bach. That’s what he listened to, always,” said Josie Lawrence, 65.
He grew up in the tony Harlem neighborhood of Sugar Hill, a few doors down from Sugar Ray Robinson, the boxing legend. During the 1950s, Mr. Lawrence played the bass with the aforementioned giants of jazz.
But it was his father who exposed him to classical music’s sweeping sonics.
“My grandpa liked to sing opera,” said Mr. Lawrence’s daughter Marie Lawrence Rasmussen, 52, of Payson, Ariz. “He didn’t perform in a symphony, but he had a beautiful voice.”
Mr. Lawrence initially studied piano but a teacher suggested he switch to the bass. “A music instructor in school told him because of his hands he should play the bass. He had real strong, big hands,” Rasmussen said.
Mr. Lawrence had a decorated musical career. In New York, he attended the illustrious High School of Music & Art, followed by two years at the prestigious Juilliard School, focusing on bass.
Before coming to Seattle, he played in the Ottawa Symphony, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation studio orchestra, and the Syracuse (N.Y.) Symphony. His daughter Idelle held up the phone for him in Syracuse while he auditioned for the Seattle Symphony.
“The next thing I knew, we were headed to Washington,” she said.
“There were maybe 10 [African-American symphony players] in the whole country,” said Gerard Schwarz, conductor emeritus of Seattle Symphony, who retired in 2011. “He was not only the first in Seattle, but one of the first in the whole country. It’s really extraordinary when you really think about it.”
But, said his friends and family, Mr. Lawrence was humble to a fault.
“He wasn’t one to brag about himself or talk about those types of things,” said Clarence Acox Jr., the director of jazz bands at Seattle’s Garfield High School. “He wanted to know how I was doing with the kids and the kids at Garfield. He didn’t talk about himself. He was just one of those kinds of guys.”
Mr. Lawrence left the symphony in 2005 and dedicated his time to working with young people in cities, exposing them to the music and the instruments he loved so much. He started a string orchestra at Leschi Elementary School in Seattle, and worked with students at Seattle’s Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and at Garfield.
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“Classical, I think, was his first love,” said his daughter Idelle Lawrence, of Auburn. “It was the mellowness of it.”
“He loved Bach. That’s what he listened to, always,” said Josie Lawrence, 65.
He grew up in the tony Harlem neighborhood of Sugar Hill, a few doors down from Sugar Ray Robinson, the boxing legend. During the 1950s, Mr. Lawrence played the bass with the aforementioned giants of jazz.
But it was his father who exposed him to classical music’s sweeping sonics.
“My grandpa liked to sing opera,” said Mr. Lawrence’s daughter Marie Lawrence Rasmussen, 52, of Payson, Ariz. “He didn’t perform in a symphony, but he had a beautiful voice.”
Mr. Lawrence initially studied piano but a teacher suggested he switch to the bass. “A music instructor in school told him because of his hands he should play the bass. He had real strong, big hands,” Rasmussen said.
Mr. Lawrence had a decorated musical career. In New York, he attended the illustrious High School of Music & Art, followed by two years at the prestigious Juilliard School, focusing on bass.
Before coming to Seattle, he played in the Ottawa Symphony, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation studio orchestra, and the Syracuse (N.Y.) Symphony. His daughter Idelle held up the phone for him in Syracuse while he auditioned for the Seattle Symphony.
“There were maybe 10 [African-American symphony players] in the whole country,” said Gerard Schwarz, conductor emeritus of Seattle Symphony, who retired in 2011. “He was not only the first in Seattle, but one of the first in the whole country. It’s really extraordinary when you really think about it.”
But, said his friends and family, Mr. Lawrence was humble to a fault.
“He wasn’t one to brag about himself or talk about those types of things,” said Clarence Acox Jr., the director of jazz bands at Seattle’s Garfield High School. “He wanted to know how I was doing with the kids and the kids at Garfield. He didn’t talk about himself. He was just one of those kinds of guys.”
Mr. Lawrence left the symphony in 2005 and dedicated his time to working with young people in cities, exposing them to the music and the instruments he loved so much. He started a string orchestra at Leschi Elementary School in Seattle, and worked with students at Seattle’s Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and at Garfield.
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By Marlissa Hudson (@marlissahudson)
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