picture of Pete Levin photo: Dion Ogust
Pete Levin
In a diverse music career spanning several decades, keyboardist/arranger Pete Levin has performed and recorded with hundreds of jazz and pop artists - including Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Robbie Robertson and John Scofield - receiving critical accolades for his work during a 15 year association with the legendary Gil Evans, and his 8 year stint with jazz icon Jimmy Giuffre.
 
With "Deacon Blues," Pete Levin re-emerged in 2007 as a band leader and master of reinvention, embracing his roots and first love, the Hammond Organ. Working with a group of iconic jazz sidemen (Joe Beck, Danny Gottlieb, Tony Levin, Mike DeMicco) Levin and company demonstrate an uncanny chemistry that is immediate and infectious.
 
While playing French Horn with the Gil Evans Orchestra in the early 70s, Levin brought a Moog Synthesizer to a gig at New York's Village Vanguard. Already known as a "go to" synthesizer specialist, Pete was at the vanguard of that technology. "I started bringing a Clavinet, too. Eventually Gil brought John Clark into the band because I couldn't get back to my horn in time. After a while, I just stopped bringing it. Name another band leader that would let a sideman do that! I owe him a lot."
 
An in-demand New York session keyboardist, Levin has also created electronic realizations for hundreds of TV commercials, dramatic series and feature films, including "Missing in Action," "Lean on Me", "Silver Bullet", "Red Scorpion", "The Color of Money", "Maniac", "Spin City", "America's Most Wanted" and "Star Trek." In a dizzying array of unrelated commissions, Levin composed orchestral scores for the feature film "Zelimo" and for a stage production of "The Dybbuk"; had the honor of composing the anthem for the 1992 United Nations Earth summit, "The Future is in Our Hands", performing it twice for the U.N. General Assembly; and, as far removed from Jazz as it gets, was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for writing the official military band arrangement of the U.S. Infantry song.
 
But Levin, whose wry sense of humor is never far from the surface, reveals that his all time favorite recording session produced the top-40 hit single "Close to You" by The Clams, a Spike Jones tribute band formed with his brother, bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), drummer Steve Gadd (Eric Clapton, Paul Simon) and Grammy® winning recording engineer Dixon Van Winkle (Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra). Thirty years later the recording is still a cult classic.
 
In 1990, Levin signed with Gramavision to release his first solo jazz album, "Party in the Basement", followed by "Solitary Man" in 1991. Collaborating with drummer Danny Gottlieb, Pete released "The New Age of Christmas" on Atlantic and "Masters in this Hall" for Gramavision. In the years following, he released four New Age CDs for Alternate Mode Productions, and a variety of eclectic albums for independent labels.
 
With "Deacon Blues," Pete Levin returns to the cutting edge as a band leader. For Levin, this recording was a labor of love. "The Hammond Organ has got such a rich history. There's really no other sound quite like it. Even the best synth simulations fall short. You crank up the motor, you hit a note and it sings to you. It's like the soul of every organ player is being breathed out from the instrument."
contact: pete@petelevin.com
homepage: www.petelevin.com
myspace www.myspace.com/petelevinmusic
on tour Click on the logo to see Pete's tour dates.

 

Discography
Gil Evans Plays The Music Of Jimi Hendrix
RCA Victor LSA 3197
released 1975
recorded June 1974 through June 1975 in New York City/USA
Gil Evans, conductor, keyboards, piano
David Sanborn, soprano sax, alto sax, flute, alto flute
Trevor Koehler, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, flute
George Adams, tenor sax, flute
Billy Harper, tenor sax, flute
Howard Johnson, baritone sax, tuba, clarinet, bass clarinet, bass
Joseph Daley, trombone, tuba
Tom "Bones" Malone, trombone, bass trombone, tuba, flute, piccolo, synthesizer, bass
Michael Moore, trombone, flute, synthesizer, bass
Peter Gordon, flugelhorn, French horn
Pete Levin, flugelhorn, French horn, organ, synthesizer
Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson, trumpet, koto, vocals
Ernie Royal, trumpet, flugelhorn
Lew Soloff, trumpet, flugelhorn
Bob Stewart, tuba
John Clark, French horn
Trevor Koshier, flute
John Abercrombie, guitar
Ryo Kawasaki, guitar
Keith Loving, guitar
Paul Metzke, guitar
David Horowitz, organ, piano, synthesizer
Warren Smith, vibes, marimba, drums, percussion
Herb Bushler, bass
Don Pate, bass
Bruce Ditmas, drums, percussion
Sue Evans, drums, percussion
Joe Gallivan, drums
Tony Williams, drums
There Comes A Time
RCA Victor APL1-1057
released 1976
recorded March/April 1975 in New York City/USA
Gil Evans, conductor, piano
David Sanborn, soprano sax, alto sax, flute
George Adams, alto sax, tenor sax, flute
Billy Harper, tenor sax, flute
Howard Johnson, baritone sax, tuba, bass clarinet
Joseph Daley, trombone, tuba
Tom "Bones" Malone, trombone, tuba, piccolo, synthesizer
Ernie Royal, trumpet, flugelhorn
Bob Stewart, tuba
John Clark, French horn
Peter Gordon, French horn
Pete Levin, French horn, organ, synthesizer
Joe Gallivan, guitar, drums
Ryo Kawasaki, guitar
David Horowitz, organ, synthesizer
Warren Smith, vibes, marimba, drums, percussion
Herb Bushler, bass
Bruce Ditmas, drums, percussion
Tony Williams, drums
Sue Evans, percussion
Party In The Basement
Gramavision GV 79456-2
recorded 1990 in New York, NY/USA
Pete Levin, organ, piano, synthesizer, banjo
Alex Foster, tenor sax, soprano sax
Howard Johnson, baritone sax, bass sax, tuba
Dave Bargeron, trombone
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Mike Stern, guitar
Kevin Kuhn, guitar
Mark Egan, bass
Danny Gottlieb, drums, percussion
Lenny White, drums
Gordon Gottlieb, percussion
Tokyo Concert
WestWind 2056
recorded May/June 1976 in Tokyo/Japan
Gil Evans, piano
George Adams, tenor sax, flute
Kousuke Mine, tenor sax
Kuni Shinohara, trumpet
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Bob Stewart, tuba
Pete Levin, French horn, organ, synthesizer
Ryo Kawasaki, guitar
Keith Loving, guitar
Jeff Berlin, bass
Sue Evans, drums
Warren Smith, percussion
A Solitary Man
Gramavision GV 79457-2
recorded December 1990 in New York, NY/USA
Pete Levin, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, organ
Alex Foster, tenor sax, soprano sax
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Ray Anderson, trombone
Nicky Moroch, guitar
Jeff Berlin, bass
Manolo Badrena, percussion, congas
Cliff Almond, drums
Alan Meyerson, rainstick
Little Wing
Bellaphon 66055015
recorded June 1991 in Willow, NY/USA
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Ray Anderson, trombone
Pete Levin, organ, synthesizer
Gil Goldstein, piano, synthesizer, accordion
Mark Egan, bass
Kenwood Dennard, drums
Manolo Badrena, percussion
Second Nature
Blue Forest Records CD 5678
Chris Brubeck, trombone, piano, bass
Mike DeMicco, guitar
Pete Levin, Hammond organ, piano
Dan Brubeck, drums
Resonator
Narada 72438-60554-2-2

Tony Levin, piano, keyboards, cello, bass, vocals
Adrian Belew, guitar
Jesse Gress, guitar
Steve Lukather, guitar
Larry Fast, synthesizer
Pete Levin, organ, piano
Jerry Marotta, drums, vocals
Strength
215 Records 215-2037
recorded in 2000
Gil Parris, guitar
Dave Mann, sax
Randy Brecker, trumpet
Tom Camp, pedal steel
Tim Lefebvre, guitar, bass
Bob Baldwin, keyboards
Michael Colina, keyboards
Pete Levin, organ
Thierry Arpino, drums, cymbals
Deacon Blues
Motema MTM 0008
recorded 2007 in USA
Pete Levin, organ
Joe Beck, guitar
Mike Demicco, guitar
Danny Gottlieb, drums
Tony Levin, bass
Ken Lovelett, percussion, drums
Carlos Valdez, percussion
Certified Organic
Pete Levin Music PLM008
recorded January 2008 in Woodstock, NY/USA
Pete Levin, organ
John Cariddi, guitar
Mike DeMicco, guitar
Joe Beck, guitar
Jesse Gress, guitar
Erik Lawrence, sax
Harvey Sorgen,
Ernie Colon, percussion
Ken Lovelett, percussion
Jump!
Pete Levin Music PLM 2010B

Pete Levin, organ
Dave Stryker, guitar
Joe Beck, guitar
Danny Gottlieb, drums
Lenny White, drums
Manolo Badrena, percussion
Iridium Live
Iridium Live IRL-CD-008
recorded live 08 April 2012 at the Iridium in New York City/USA
Pete Levin, organ
John Clark, French horn
Alex Foster, soprano sax, tenor sax
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Dave Stryker, guitar
Adam Nussbaum, drums
Levin Brothers
Lazy Bones Recordings

Tony Levin, cello, bass
Pete Levin, piano, organ
Erik Lawrence, sax
David Spinozza, guitar
Jeff Siegel, drums
Steve Gadd, drums
All Kinds Of Beki
Random Chance RCD 43
recorded in London/Great Britain and various locations in NY/USA
Beki Brindle, guitar, vocals
Henry Romatowski, guitar, bongos
John Sebastian, banjo, guitar, harmonica
Pete Levin, keyboards, organ, piano, bass
Peppy Castro, piano, bass, drums, keyboards
Ralph Scala, keyboards
Michael Esposito, bass
Anthony Candulo, bass
Frank Ganci, bass
Brad Scribner, drums
Vito Luizzi, drums
Mark Cutsinger, drums
Eric Parker, drums
Orlando Rodriguez, percussion
Möbius
Pete Levin Music PLM 2017

Pete Levin, piano, clavinet, organ
Chris Pasin, trumpet
Alex Foster, saxes
Eeik Lawrence, baritone sax
Jeff Ciampa, guitar
Kal David, guitar
Rob Paparozzi, harmonica & jaw harp
Nanny Assis, percussion
Tony Levin, bass
Lenny White, drums
Jerry Marotta, drums

 
Sound Samples
MP3 "Uptown", from the album "Deacon Blues"
06:50 - 6,408kB
Video n/a

 
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