International Archives For The Jazz Organ (IAJO) - The Jazz Organ Scene USA

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."

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

contact:	pete@petelevin.com
homepage:	www.petelevin.com
	www.myspace.com/petelevinmusic
	Click on the logo to see Pete's tour dates.

	"Uptown", from the album "Deacon Blues" 06:50 - 6,408kB
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