Immediate Lee

There is no other bass player like Leland ‘Lee’ Sklar, whose performances you can hear on a frankly incomprehensible 2000-plus albums, from James Taylor, Carole King, Billy Cobham and Jackson Browne to Linda Ronstadt and way beyond that. Of course, Carol Kaye and Chuck Rainey may have performed as many sessions, and others have toured for as many road miles and accompanied similarly big names, but who else combines stage and studio to Sklar’s extent?

A forthcoming documentary will be devoted to the Immediate Family, a new band formed of Sklar, Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Waddy Wachtel (guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Steve Postell (guitar). Newcomer Postell aside, the band is a modern reiteration of the Section, the label applied to the other four members since the 70s, when they first made their bones as a state-of-the-art studio ensemble.

This gives us an excuse to catch up with Sklar, like we needed one. Read and learn!