11 Facts About Lennie Bush

Leonard Walter Bush was an English jazz double bassist.

Lennie Bush contracted polio as a child and had a limp for the rest of his life.

Lennie Bush studied and played violin before switching to bass at 16 and was playing professionally by 17 in a variety show called The Rolling Stones and Dawn.

Lennie Bush played with Nat Gonella in the middle of the 1940s but turned to bebop later in the decade.

From 1950 onwards Lennie Bush performed a lot of freelance work and was with Roy Fox in 1951.

Lennie Bush was one of the founding members of London's Club Eleven and played there in a band with Ronnie Scott, trumpeter Hank Shaw, pianist Tommy Pollard, and drummer Tony Crombie.

Lennie Bush studied with James Merrett at the Guildhall School of Music and participated in the European tours of Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Zoot Sims, and Roy Eldridge.

Lennie Bush became a member of Jack Parnell's ATV Orchestra in 1957 and recorded with Stephane Grappelli, Anita O'Day, and Eddie Vinson.

Lennie Bush continued to play in the 1990s, notably as part of the Ralph Sharon trio with Jack Parnell.

Lennie Bush continued to freelance into the 2000s often playing gigs close to his home in East Anglia until his death in June 2004.

Lennie Bush is survived by his wife Anne, a former journalist, and their son Andy, the trumpeter and composer.