Donald Lambert Transcriptions

Biography of Donald Lambert

Donald "The Lamb" Lambert was an American jazz stride pianist, a master of the demanding Harlem style who was highly respected by his peers for his powerful left hand and inventive improvisations on operatic and classical themes. Though he spent much of his career as a "local legend" in Newark, New Jersey, his talent was captured on a series of recordings for the Solo Art label in 1939-1941, which document his unique approach to transforming pieces like the Poet and Peasant Overture into dazzling stride piano. He is remembered as one of the last great practitioners of classic stride piano, maintaining the tradition's complexity and swing into the modern jazz era.