Those in the employ of the establishment fared better in escaping than customers, owing to their familiarity with service areas, where the fire's effects were less severe than in the public areas, and which provided access to additional window and door exits. A double door opposite the public entryway to the main dining room was unlocked by wait staff and was soon the only functional outside exit from public areas. Although several members of the band, including musical director Bernie Fazioli, lost their lives, most of them escaped backstage and through a service door that they rammed open. Alpert escaped out of a basement window and was credited with leading several people to safety. Bassist Jack Lesberg went on to play music with Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Leonard Bernstein, and many others until shortly before his death in 2005. A passage in an unpublished section of the autobiography of fellow bassist Charles Mingus, "Beneath the Underdog," stated that Lesberg "made a door" during his escape. That statement has been interpreted literally, with the additional color of Lesberg using his bass to create a new opening in a wall, and in the context of the vernacular use of the term "made", which can mean attained or achieved. No witness statements refer to the use of Lesberg's bass as a battering ram or its presence anywhere along the escape route. The legend lives on in hip-hop performance inspired by Mingus' unpublished writing.