Biography

Will Lyle (born 1994) is an upright and electric bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and producer based in New York City. 
​
He has performed and/or recorded with Ralph Peterson, Dave Kikoski, Duane Eubanks, Lewis Nash, Joe LaBarbera, Kendrick Scott, Philip Harper, Mike LeDonne, Anthony Wonsey, Billy Kilson, Cecil Alexander, Stacy Dillard, Jeb Patton, Billy Drummond, J.D. Allen, David Hazeltine, Rick Germanson, Bill Cunliffe, Pasquale Grasso, Ralph Moore, Roy McCurdy, John Colianni, Steve Little (Duke Ellington band alumnus), Ingrid Jensen,  Stefano Doglioni, Bruce Harris, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Jon Mayer (pianist), Bob Sheppard, Randy Napoleon, Barbara Morrison, Spike Wilner, Victory Boyd, and Sumerian Records artist Bones UK.

​

He has performed throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Mexico. Will has performed at Smalls, Mezzrow, Birdland, 55 Bar, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Ornithology, Cellar Dog (previously Fat Cat), Sam First, The Lighthouse, The Blue Whale, Pit Inn (Shinjuku, Tokyo), Jazz Spot J, Mr. Kelly's (Osaka, Japan), Newport Jazz Festival, Java Jazz Festival (Jakarta, Indonesia), Central Avenue Jazz Festival, YouTube Space, and numerous other venues.

​

Upon graduating from Berklee College of Music, he joined GRAMMY-award winning drummer Billy Kilson's quartet on a tour to Japan in 2017. After returning, he found steady work in his hometown of Los Angeles and joined pianist Jon Mayer's Trio (alumnus of John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band), with Roy McCurdy (of Cannonball Adderley's group) on drums. The trio performed frequently from 2017 to 2022, and occasionally featured guest saxophonists Ralph Moore and Doug Webb. He also joined guitarist Jacques Lesure's band, an alumnus of Jimmy Smith, and the group would frequently perform with Marvin "Smitty" Smith, an 11-year alumnus of the Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

​

In 2021 he recorded on Lia Booth's album Life Can Be Beautiful, produced by trumpeter Tony Guerrero and released in 2022 on California-based MetaJax records.

 

His self-released debut record LA Source Codes was released May 2021 and features Bob Sheppard, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Mahesh Balasooriya, Adam Hersh, Anthony Fung, Nikki Campbell, Mikan Zlatkovich, Jon Mayer and Roy McCurdy, and features several jazz standards and four of Will's original compositions. It is dedicated to the memory of his mentor in jazz, the great Ralph Peterson, Jr. The album received an 8/10 from Music Connection, 3.5/5 on All About Jazz, and was pl ayed nationwide on over 100 radio stations. It received two features on Cap Radio's Excellence in Jazz playlist. 

 

Later that year, Lyle's musical score for the short film "Fame Kills" won Best Original Music for the Nashville 48 Hour Film Festival. The music featured a duet with saxophonist Bob Sheppard. He moved from Los Angeles to New York, on a presidential scholarship to study with Guinness Book of World records' most recorded jazz bassist, Ron Carter, at Manhattan School of Music.

​

In November and December 2022, he did an international tour of Europe, with performances in Germany, Denmark, Greece, and the United Kingdom. He performed as both a leader and sideman. 

​

In  December 2022, he toured as the bassist in legendary jazz pianist Dave Kikoski's trio with former Chick Corea drummer Gary Novak on drums. The trio played such venues as the Black Cat in San Francisco, CA, The 1905 in Portland, Oregon, and Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, CA.

​

In February 2023, he led an international tour for his project TrioGram and their self-titled album, released in 2023. The tour featured pianist Bijan Taghavi (member of Rodney Whitaker's quartet and professor at Hillsdale College) and several luminaries of jazz drumming: Joe LaBarbera (former drummer for Bill Evans), Mark Ferber (drummer for Billy Childs) and Lewis Nash (former drummer for Tommy Flanagan). The tour included Mexico and several locations in the Southwestern United States. 

​

In Spring of 2023, he recorded with vocalist Ryan Christopher, in a band that featured the late John Colianni (1962-2023), former musical director and pianist for Mel Tormé, and Duke Ellington band alumnus Steve Little on drums.

​

Later in 2023, he performed several shows with actor and singer Lea DeLaria, known for her role as Big Boo in the Netflix series Orange is The New Black.

​

In 2024, three months shy of his 30th birthday, he completed his first recording as a sideman with a New York jazz legend, on Anthony Wonsey's album "Rebirth: The Sobriety Session" with drummer Chris Beck and guitarist Misha Josephs. Wonsey was a previous member of Elvin Jones, Louis Hayes, Nicholas Payton, and Christian McBride's bands. The record was created after several sold-out performances at Mezzrow in Greenwich Village, NYC. 

​