| Tony Levin | |
|---|---|
 Tony Levin during a visit to Caracas (Venezuela), 1993.
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 6 1946 in Boston, Massachusetts |
| Origin | Rochester, NY |
| Genre(s) | Progressive rock Progressive metal Jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | bass guitar, Chapman Stick |
| Years active | 1970 - |
| Associated acts |
King Crimson Liquid Tension Experiment Liquid Trio Experiment Peter Gabriel |
| Website | www.tonylevin.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Chapman Stick Music Man StingRay |
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Tony Levin (born June 6 1946, Boston, Massachusetts) is an influential American bass player. He has played with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Yes (and splinter group Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe), Liquid Tension Experiment, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, Dire Straits, Joan Armatrading, Alice Cooper, Seal, David Torn, David Bowie, Deodato, Pandora's Box, Carly Simon, California Guitar Trio, Lawrence Gowan, Sarah McLachlan, Kevin Max, The Roches, Todd Rundgren and Paul Simon, Lou Reed among many others. Tony Levin is partly responsible for popularizing the Chapman Stick and the NS upright bass. He has also created funk fingers, a device for mimicking the sound of hitting the strings with drumsticks (which sounds very similar to slap style bass). In addition to his work as a sideman and in collaborative projects, he has various solo albums (Waters of Eden, Pieces of the Sun), and a live Tony Levin Band album. In April, 2006 he released Resonator and launched a North American tour of the same name, which also travelled to Italy, Russia and Mexico.
Biography
Tony Levin was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the suburb of Brookline. He began playing upright bass at 10 years old. In high school, he picked up tuba, soloing with the concert band. He also started a barbershop quartet. He primarily played classical music on the upright, most notably performing at the White House with a youth orchestra for John and Jackie Kennedy. He then attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Also at the school was Steve Gadd, now a renowned drummer, who introduced Tony to playing a higher level of jazz and rock. He traded in his Ampeg electric upright Baby Bass for an old (at that time) Fender Precision Bass, which was his only instrument for many years. In 1970, Tony moved to New York City, joined a band called Aha, the Attack of the Green Slime Beast, with Don Preston of The Mothers of Invention. Soon after, he began working as a session musician, and through the 1970's he played bass on many albums. In the late '70s, wanting to do more live playing, Tony joined Peter Gabriel's band. He had met Peter through producer Bob Ezrin (with whom Tony had recorded Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare, and Lou Reed's Berlin). Tony has played with Gabriel, both on the road and in the studio, since then. On that first Peter Gabriel album, Tony played some tuba as well as bass, and directed a short barbershop quartet version of a song. It was in these early years with Gabriel that Tony developed his playing of the Chapman Stick. More recently, the song "Big Time", from Gabriel's So album, inspired the development of funk fingers, which are chopped off drumsticks used to hammer on the bass strings. Levin credits Gabriel with the idea, and Andy Moore, his tech at the time, with actually making them workable. In 1978, Tony moved to Woodstock, New York, to join the band L'Image, which included his old friend Steve Gadd, as well as Mike Mainieri and Warren Bernhardt. The band broke up after a year, and Tony stayed in Woodstock, where he still lives. On Peter Gabriel's first album, Tony met Robert Fripp and, in 1980, after having played on Fripp's solo album Exposure, he became a member of the '80s incarnation of King Crimson. Through the years, Tony has toured with quite a few artists including: Paul Simon (with whom Tony appeared in Simon's 1980 film "One Trick Pony"), Gary Burton, James Taylor, Herbie Mann, Goro Noguchi, Judy Collins, Joe Yamanaka, Carly Simon, Peter Frampton, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, and Claudio Baglioni. In 1984 Tony released Road Photos, a collection of black & white photos taken during his travels with Crimson, Gabriel, Simon and others. Tony's brother, Pete Levin, is a New York keyboardist and writer who is best known for his work with Gil Evans. Back in the 70's, Tony and Pete collaborated with Steve Gadd in the comedy band The Clams. Some of the Clams's material may eventually be released, as previously stated by Levin. Tony was part of King Crimson up until the breakup of the "Double Trio" line-up of the band which consisted of Tony Levin, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto and Bill Bruford. Robert Fripp then reformed King Crimson as a quartet, without Levin and Bruford. Levin also took part in two of the post-breakup experimental sub-groups ProjeKct One (1997) and ProjeKct Four (1998). In 1989 Bruford asked Levin to play in Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, a splinter group of the band Yes. Because of the obvious emphasis on this being a band of former Yes members, Levin was never invited to become an official member, but played on ABWH's eponymous album, and also on Yes' 1991 album Union. In 1998, Levin and Bruford formed Bruford Levin Upper Extremities with trumpeter Chris Botti and guitarist David Torn; the group released albums in 1998 and 2000. Levin also continued producing albums with his own band, the Tony Levin Band (see discography). In 1998, Levin teamed up with Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, members of Dream Theater, as well as future Dream Theater keyboardist, Jordan Rudess for a project called Liquid Tension Experiment. The combo recorded two albums, Liquid Tension Experiment and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 in 1998 and 1999 respectively. They also played some live shows in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, and will regroup in 2008 to play NEARfest, a popular progressive rock festival in Bethlehem, PA. In 2004, Trey Gunn left King Crimson, and Robert Fripp reinstated Levin as the bassist. Although the future of King Crimson, especially as a touring band, is unclear, Tony Levin remains a member of the band. In 2006, Levin released Resonator an album which features long time band mates Jerry Marotta, Jesse Gress, Larry Fast, with the addition of his brother Pete Levin. The album is the first to feature Levin's singing.
Selected Discography
Levin has played on hundreds of records as session musician or guest artist. The following records are those on which he played as fully contributing band member or composer.
- Discipline (1981) — King Crimson
- Beat (1982) — King Crimson
- Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) — King Crimson
- Cloud About Mercury (1986) — David Torn
- Spin 1ne 2wo (1993) — Spin 1ne 2wo
- THRAK (1995) — King Crimson
- World Diary (1995) — solo
- Black Light Syndrome (1997) — Bozzio Levin Stevens
- From the Caves of the Iron Mountain (1997) — Gorn, Levin, Marotta
- Liquid Tension Experiment (1998) — Liquid Tension Experiment
- Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998) — Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999) — Liquid Tension Experiment
- Waters of Eden (2000) — solo
- Situation Dangerous (2000) — Bozzio Levin Stevens
- B.L.U.E. Nights (2000) — Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
- Pieces of the Sun (2002) — solo
- Double Espresso (2002) — solo
- Resonator (2006) — solo
- The Stick Man (2007) — solo
- Spontaneous Combustion (2007) - Liquid Trio Experiment
External links
- Official Tony Levin Site
- Tony Levin discography
- Interview mit Tony Levin auf Deutsch (German Interview)
- Interview with Tony Levin in English
- Funk Fingers
- NS electric double bass
- Chapman Stick
- BBC Blast interview with Tony Levin
- TONY LEVIN World Diary reviews and MP3
