Lester Lovitt a 15 year member of Jack Mack was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. He started playing Trumpet at the age of six and joined the very well known Bay Area band called the " Juveniles" at age ten. The band was brought to prominence through multiple television appearances and recordings. Lester received the National " Bank Of America Outstanding Musicianship Award " in 1973 and a place in the California Youth Symphony. After a long road stint with" Bishop Mayfield and the Blessed Children" he enrolled at " North Texas State University " in Denton, Texas in 1977. In 1979 he was awarded the " Eastplate Trumpet Scholarship " and by 1980 had worked his way into the internationally famed 1:00 Lab Band and was especially proud of playing in Dr. Leon Breeden's last band before retirement. Lester left North Texas for a very short stint as lead Trumpet at Harrah's Casino Showroom at Lake Tahoe. In 1983 he moved to Los Angeles to continue his professional career. In 1985 & '86 Lester toured with the Woody Herman Orchestra and recorded the Grammy nominated "50th Anniversary Tour " album live at the Great American music Hall in San Francisco. Through the rest of the 80's he was involved with the " Columbia Artists Tours ". Logging road time with such artists as: Mel Torme, Peter Nero, Leslie Ugams, Debbie Reynolds, Ray Anthony, Harry James Band, " Four Girls Four ", Kay Starr, Helen O'Connell and the "McGuire Sisters". In 1989 he performed with the " Monkees " as part of their last world tour. In 1991 he played the Jerome Robbins Tony award winning musical "Broadway". That same year he joined Woody Harrelson's, " Manly Moondog " band and toured through the rest of 1991 and 1992.
In 1993 & '94 he juggled touring with the "Brian Setzer Orchestra" and Jack Mack and has remained with Jack Mack ever since. Occasionally Lester gets the opportunity to travel with "Taj Mahal", "Jim Belushi & the Sacred Hearts" and the " Blues Brothers ". He can also be heard with the band " Side Effect ". Lester has played on some 200 hundred recordings with such Artists as: Herbie Hancock, No Doubt , B.B. Winans, Bobby Womack , Bob Belden, Eric Burdon , Dwight Yoakam, Mohammed Wardi , "The Boneshakers", Brian Setzer, Rebekah, Curtis Salgado , " The Radio City Rockettes ", Buddy Greco , Maggie Louie , Sam Phillips, Natalie Merchant , Mark Masters and " Hoobastank " just to name a few. Lester's trumpet playing can also be heard on many movie soundtracks including: "Mask", "Someone to Watch Over Me ", "Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood", "Always ",
"Starsky & Hutch ", "On Sunset ", " The Prince of Egypt ", " The Dark Backward ", " Bikini Island 1 & 2 ", " Little 15 ", " Blowhard ", " Voyeur ", "McHale's Navy" and "Tibet - Echo of the East”. Lester has endorsements with " AKG Acoustics "/ Nashville, Tenn. and "Schagerl " trumpets / Vienna, Austria. He credits his sound trumpet fundamentals to his extensive private studies with: Edward
Haug ( San Francisco Symphony ) 1966 - 1974; Don Haas - 1974 & 1975; Claude Gordon - 1975 through 1977; Don Jacoby - 1977 through 1979; and with Dr. John J. Haynie ( North Texas State University ) 1979 through 1981. Lester would also credit his longtime friend and music mentor Bob Belden for continuing to expect the very best. A shout out to Mark Masters for his continued support and a special mention to Darrell Leonard who continues to serve as a roll model for how to grow in all directions as a professional Musician and Composer.
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