Pete Levin grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. His first instrument as a teenager was the French horn.[1] He studied at Boston University and received a master's degree from Juilliard School in New York City.[1][2] Levin was introduced to the Hammond organ by a fellow musician in the late 1960s while serving in the army.[1] 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.[3] His fifteen-year association with the Gil Evans Orchestra was followed by an eight-year association with Jimmy Giuffre.[4]
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."[4]
Discographyedit
As leaderedit
Close To You: The Clams (CTI, 1076) with Tony Levin
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
Referencesedit
^ abcRowe, Monk. "Pete Levin interviewed by Monk Rowe, Danbury, Connecticut, November 20, 2001". Jazz Archive Interviews. Hamilton College. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
^John W. Barry (February 23, 2007). "Indulge in Levin's Love of Jazz". Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie, New York. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
^Larry Hicock (May 16, 2002). Castles Made Of Sound: The Story Of Gil Evans. Da Capo Press. pp. 184–. ISBN 9780306809453. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
^ abcde"Pete Levin – Biography". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
^Ken Micallef (February 2015). "Levin Brothers Express Love for 'Cool' School" (PDF). DownBeat magazine. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
External linksedit
Official website
"Music with the Levin Brothers – Interview", WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Archived
"The Art of Music Tech with Pete Levin - Video Interview", filmed and edited by 23db Productions. August 20, 2016.
Micallef, Ken. “Levin Brothers Express Love for ‘Cool’ School.” Downbeat. February, 2015. PDF Archived
Rowe, Monk. "Pete Levin :: Jazz Archive Interviews." Transcript of video interview. Hamilton Archive and Fillius Jazz Archive, 2001.
Burdick, John. "Band of Brothers." Almanac Weekly, 2017. Archived.
Manfredi, Mariano and Guazzelli, Andres. "Brothers should Stick together." Enterarte, March 2017.
Rubin, Jason. "Concert Preview: Local Boys Make Cool Jazz — The Levin Brothers Reunite." The Arts Fuse, 2017.
Thompson, Scott. "Keyboardist, Arranger, Composer Pete Levin Releases New CD- "Möbius" (Lenny White Label) On September 25". All About Jazz. 2017-09-25. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26.
Desouteiro, Arnaldo. "Keyboardist, The 39th Annual Jazz Station Awards / The Best Jazz of 2017". Jazz Station - Arnaldo Desouteiro's Blog (Jazz, Bossa & Beyond). 2017-12-31. Archived from the original on 2018-01-04.
Zee, Roger. "Keyboard Master Pete Levin Interview". TheWorkingMusician.com. 2018-02-04. Archived from the original on 2018-04-28.
"Gil Evans plays Hendrix—Warsaw 1976". YouTube. 1976.
"Gil Evans plays Hendrix—Hamburg 1986". YouTube. 1986.
"Subway - Gil Evans Orchestra". YouTube. June 14, 2016. Recorded at Avatar Studios (Power Station), New York, NY. Video capture by JM Zervoulei JMZ Productions.
"PODCAST 074: Pete Levin". YouTube. June 1, 2022. Interviewed by Markus Reuter.