Pete Levin

Biography

Pete Levin (born December 20, 1942) is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer.

Career

Pete Levin grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. His first instrument as a teenager was the French horn. He studied at Boston University and received a master's degree from Juilliard School in New York City. Levin was introduced to the Hammond organ by a fellow musician in the late 1960s while serving in the army. In the early 1970s he joined the Gil Evans Orchestra as a French horn player. At the time, Levin was experimenting with synthesizers. Evans incorporated Levin's synthesizer sound into the compositions and his role changed to a full-time keyboardist. His fifteen-year association with the Gil Evans Orchestra was followed by an eight-year association with Jimmy Giuffre.
Levin plays piano, Hammond organ, clavinet, and Moog synthesizer. He has produced several albums as a bandleader, including the 2007 Deacon Blues×Deacon Blues2007 · ReleaseSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Deacon Blues5:212Uptown6:493Sail On Sailor6:374First Gymnopede6:005Once Lost3:596Icarus6:397Sad Truth3:598Eclipse7:069Might Have Been5:4210DragonFly8:3311Mean To Me5:56 and Jump!×Jump!Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Jump6:522Exclamation6:523That Was Then6:414The Big Dog Is Always Right6:505Talk To The Animals6:336Nostalgia in Times Square6:017Little Sunflower6:068Candido5:479Alone Together7:1310Honeysuckle Rose5:01 in 2010. In 2014 he released a collaborative album with his brother, bassist Tony Levin, titled Levin Brothers. The album is a tribute to Oscar Pettiford and Julius Watkins.
Levin has performed for film and television scores 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. He has composed orchestral scores of his own for Zelimo and The Dybbuk. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for writing the official military band arrangement of the U.S. Infantry song.
He has worked with Carla Bley, Brubeck Brothers, Hiram Bullock, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Cobham, Willie Colón, Kal David, Miles Davis, Rachelle Farrell, Bryan Ferry, Gregory Hines, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Annie Lennox, Chuck Mangione, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Genya Ravan, Robbie Robertson, Salt-n-Pepa, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Paul Simon, Lew Soloff, John Tropea, Joe Louis Walker, Vanessa Williams, and Lenny White.
Regarding his creative work, Levin stated that "All my arranging and orchestrating work is grounded in what I experience in live performance...My best and most creative ideas come from playing live."

As leader

Close To You: The Clams (CTI, 1076) with Tony Levin
The New Age of Christmas (Atlantic, 1989) with Danny Gottlieb
Masters in This Hall (Gramavision, 1990) with Danny Gottlieb
Party in the Basement (Gramavision, 1990)
A Solitary Man (Gramavision, 1991)
Music for the Dybbuk (Peter Levin Music, 1974/1996)
Harmony (Alternate Mode, 1998)
Crystals (Alternate Mode, 2000)
Meditations (Alternate Mode, 2001) with Ali Ryerson
Zelimo (PLM, 2001)
Rhythm of the Spirit (Alternate Mode, 2002)
Deacon Blues (Motéma, 2007)
Certified Organic (PLM, 2008)
Live in Foggia: Pete Levin Trio (PLM, 2009)
Jump! (Independent, 2010)
IridiumLive 008: 4-18-2012 (E1/Iridium Live, 2013)
Levin Brothers (Lazy Bones, 2014) with Tony Levin
Special Delivery (Lazy Bones, 2017) with Tony Levin
The Monday Night Band: Live At The Cutting Room (Independent, 2017)
Möbius (IYOUWE, 2017)
Live At Daryl's House (Independent, 2021) with Tony Levin
Fade To Blue (Independent, 2022) with Tony Levin
J.S. Bach Inventions & Sinfonias (Independent, 2023)

As sideman

With Marc Black

Pictures of the Highway (Suma, 2010)
Live at the Bearsville Theater (Independent, 2015)
Sing for the Silenced (Independent, 2015)
With Jay Chattaway

Maniac (Southeast, 1980)
Invasion USA (Varese Saraband, 1985)
Maniac Cop (Varese Saraband, 1988)
Red Scorpion (Varese Saraband, 1989)
Maniac Cop 2 (Independent, 2014)
With John Clark

I Will (Postcards, 1997)
The Odd Couple Quintet (Composers Concordance, 2015)
With Bill Comeau

Some Beautiful Day (Avant Garde, 1972)
Grizzly Bear Hunt (Poison Ring, 1973)
With Gil Evans

Blues in Orbit (Enja, 1971)
Svengali (Atlantic, 1973)
Live at Montreux (Phillips, 1974)
The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix (RCA, 1974)
There Comes a Time (RCA, 1975)
The Tokyo Concert (West Wind, 1976)
Live in Barcelona (Atlantic, 1976)
Priestess (Antilles, 1977)
Parabola (Horo, 1979)
Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (RCA, 1979)
Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) (Trio, 1981)
Lunar Eclipse (New Tone, 1981)
Live at Sweet Basil (Gramavision, 1984 [1986])
Live at Sweet Basil Vol. 2 (Gramavision, 1984 [1987])
Bud and Bird (Electric Bird/King, 1986 [1987])
Farewell (Evidence, 1986 [1992])
The Honey Man (New Tone, 1986)
Live at Umbria Jazz (Umbria Jazz, 2000)
With Rachelle Ferrell

First Instrument (Blue Note, 1990)
Somethin' Else (Independent, 1997)
With Jimmy Giuffre

Dragonfly (Soul Note, 1983)
Quasar (Soul Note, 1985)
Liquid Dancers (Soul Note, 1991)
With Richie Hart

Blues in the Alley (Zoho, 2003)
Greasy Street (Zoho, 2005)
With Tony Levin

Waters of Eden (Narada, 2000)
Resonator (Narada, 2006)
With Amy Rogell

Come to the Playground (2000)
Miles of Smiles (2007)
With Raphael Rudd

Joyfest (1993)
The Awakening Chronicles (Wedge Music, 1996)
With John Scofield

Electric Outlet (Gramavision, 1984)
Slow Sco (Gramavision, 1990)
With Lew Soloff

Hanalei Bay (King, 1983)
My Romance (King, 1988)
Little Wing (Sweet Basil, 1991)
With Michael Veitch

Heartlander (2006)
Painted Heart (2007)
The Veitch Boys (2015)
With Lou Volpe

Can You Hear That (Cap, 2003)
Undercovers (Jazz Guitar, 2006)
With Lenny White

Present Tense (Hip Bop, 1994)
Renderers of Spirit (Hip Bop Essence, 1997)
Edge (Hip Bop, 1998)
With others

Singalong Junk (Mercury, 1972), Gap Mangione
Rejuvenation (Columbia, 1975), Don Elliott
A Piece of the Apple (Arista, 1976), New York Mary
Heart to Heart (Warner, 1978), David Sanborn
Live at 55 Grand (1982), Jaco Pastorius
So Nobody Else Can Hear (Contempo Vibrato, 1983), Jimmy Cobb
Archipeligo (Sum, 1984), Barb Truex
Manhattan Blue (King, 1986), Shunzo Ohno
I'm a Survivor (Mercury, 1987), Zuice
Robbie Robertson (Geffen, 1987), Robbie Robertson
In Touch (Novus, 1988), Amina Claudine Myers
On the Rise (GRP, 1989), Deborah Henson-Conant
Dade ... In the Shade (Wavetone, 1990), Mark Egan
Naked to the World (Atlantic, 1991), Nicki Richards
In Flight (1993), Pieces of a Dream
Body and Soul (Atlantic, 1993), Regina Carter
BIII: Hard Rock Jazz (JVC, 1996), Toshihiko Kankawa
Uptown Saturday Night (Arista, 1997) Camp Lo
Smooth Romance (jazm, 1998), Janet Marlowe
Top of the Food Chain (Sweetthing, 1998), Ellie Sarty
La La Means Love (Motown, 1999), La La
Second Nature (Blue Forest, 2000), Brubeck Brothers
The Last Romantic (Narada, 2001), Artie Traum
Duke, Billy & Tadd (Independent, 2004), Peter Welker
Days of Horses (Independent, 2004), Aztec Two Step
The O'Franken Factor Factor (Artemis, 2004), Al Franken
GOP Party Monsters (Para, 2004), Wayne Lammers
I Walk the Road Again (Roaring Stream, 2005), Happy Traum
Myth Songs (Mythsongs, 2005), Nick Humez
Foreign Funk (Markei, 2007), Keith Marks
Shining Hour (Independent, 2007), Jeff Oster
Kingsway (Independent, 2008), Roman Klun
Flowers to Strangers (2008), Lee Marvin
Little Girl Dreams (2008), Athena Reich
After the War (Independent, 2008), Rod MacDonald
Wit of the Staircase (Vermicious Knid, 2009), Andy Rothstein
Outside Looking In (Independent, 2009), Charles Lyonhart
Kaleidoscope (Guavajamm, 2010), Lynette Washington
And Here's to You (Macdee, 2010), Betty MacDonald and Joe Beck
Fortune Cookie Philosophy (Independent, 2010), Erin Hobson
Lost in Space (Independent, 2011), GI Blythe
Con Brio! (Independent, 2011), Ali Ryerson
Lovers After All (Independent, 2011), Deborah Winters
Introducing Letizia Gambi (Jando Music, 2011), Letizia Gambi
Cheesecake Girl (Independent, 2012), Genya Ravan
Wild Animals (2014), Robert Capowsky
Leila Gobi (Clermont Music, 2014), Leila Gobi
Baudi (Clermont Music, 2015), Mamadou Kelly
Djamila (Clermont Music, 2015), Mamadou Kelly
Barcelona Notebook (Independent, 2015), Vincent Pasternak
Sonar (Independent, 2015), Nick Holmes
Uprising (Independent, 2016), Joan Henry
Big City Blues (Independent, 2016), Ling Zhang
Waxwing (Independent, 2016), Chrissy Gardner
Blue Monday (Independent, 2016), Letizia Gambi
All Kinds of Beki (Random Chance, 2016), Beki Brindle
Find My Way (Independent, 2016), Hillary Chase
Good Old Songs (2017), Rene Bailey
Cool Night (Pierdon, 2017), Kathy Ingraham
Flaming June (Independent, 2017), Kurt Henry
It's Called Love (Independent 2018), Roseann Sureda