Tony Levin


Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. He was also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities and HoBoLeMa. He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.
A prolific session musician since the 1970s, Levin has played on over 500 albums. Some notable sessions include work with John Lennon, Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Stevie Nicks, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Joan Armatrading, Tom Waits, Buddy Rich, The Roches, Todd Rundgren, Seal, Warren Zevon, Bryan Ferry, Laurie Anderson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Gibonni, and Jean-Pierre Ferland. Additionally, he has toured with artists including Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Gary Burton, James Taylor, Herbie Mann, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, Peter Frampton, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, Ivano Fossati, Claudio Baglioni and Lawrence Gowan.
Levin helped to popularize the Chapman Stick and the NS upright bass. He also created "funk fingers", modified drumsticks attached to fingers used to hit the bass strings. In 2011, Levin ranked # 2 in the "20 Most Underrated Bass Guitarists" in Paste magazine. In July 2020, Levin was ranked # 42 on the "50 Greatest Bassists of All Time" list by Rolling Stone magazine.

Biography

Early life and education

Anthony Frederick Levin was born on June 6, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the suburb of Brookline. He began playing double bass at 10 years old, primarily studying classical music. In high school, he learned tuba, soloing with the concert band, and also started a barbershop quartet.
After high school, he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Also at Eastman, he studied with drummer Steve Gadd. He traded in his Ampeg electric upright "Baby Bass" for a Fender Precision Bass; in the early days his first bass amplifier was an Ampeg Portaflex B-15.
In 1968, Gap Mangione released his first solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind, featuring Levin and drummer Steve Gadd in their first recordings, and new compositions and arrangements by Chuck Mangione, who conducted as well.

1970s–1980s

In 1970, Levin moved to New York City, joining 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 1970s he played bass on many albums, including Buddy Rich's big band jazz album, The Roar of '74, and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years.
In 1976, Levin helped create the lush textures on Andy Pratt's Resolution album, that featured numerous notable musicians including Arif Mardin, Andy Newmark, Hugh McDonald, Luther Vandross and Levin's frequent rhythm section partner Steve Gadd. Allmusic.com and Rolling Stone magazine rated this album as one of the best singer/songwriter albums of the 1970s.
In 1977, Levin joined Peter Gabriel's band. He had met Gabriel through producer Bob Ezrin. Levin has been Gabriel's bass player of choice ever since. On Peter's first solo album, Levin played tuba as well, and directed and sang with a barbershop quartet on "Excuse Me".
With the exception of John Giblin's fretless bass playing on Peter Gabriel III, Levin has been the bassist on all of Gabriel's studio sessions and on his many tours around the world.
In his years with Gabriel, Levin developed two unique aspects of his playing: further advancement on the Chapman Stick, and the development of funk fingers. First used on the song "Big Time", from Gabriel's 1986 So album, funk fingers are chopped off drumsticks used to hammer on the bass strings. Levin credits Gabriel with the concept and his tech at the time with actually making them workable.
In 1978, Levin 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, though Levin still decided to stay in the area: he currently resides in Kingston, New York. This Ill-fated group would reunite much later in Levin's career. While recording Peter Gabriel's first album, Levin became acquainted with guitarist Robert Fripp, and in 1978 played on Fripp's solo album, Exposure. This would lead Levin to become a member of the 1981-1984 incarnation of King Crimson, along with Fripp, guitarist/vocalist Adrian Belew and drummer Bill Bruford. Levin recorded three studio albums as part of King Crimson: Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair, all three highly creative, quirky and critically acclaimed.
In 1980, Levin participated in the sessions for John Lennon & Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album.
In 1987, Levin played the bass and Chapman Stick parts on Pink Floyd's 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
In 1988 Bruford asked Levin to be an "unofficial fifth member" in the Yes related supergroup Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which consisted of members from the classic Yes lineup, but he only functioned as a session player on ABWH's eponymous album. Due to a severe virus, he was unable to play on some of the final dates of the accompanying tour. Levin also plays on the Yes album Union from 1991.
In 1984 Levin released Road Photos, a collection of black and white photos taken during his travels with Crimson, Gabriel, Simon, and others. Another book of photos focusing on King Crimson's travels in the 1980s, The Crimson Chronicles volume 1, was released in 2004. There has been no word yet on the release of volume 2, which will cover the 1990s and possibly 2000s versions of the band. Levin has also written a book of career anecdotes and road stories called Beyond the Bass Clef.
Levin was part of King Crimson again from 1994-1997 as part of the "Double Trio" line-up of the band which consisted of Levin, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, and Bill Bruford. 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 and ProjeKct Four. Levin played bass on "Watcher of the Skies" from Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited album. He was very busy in the late 1990's with his own groups Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, Bozzio Levin Stevens and Liquid Tension Experiment. In 2008, Levin joined King Crimson's 40th Anniversary Tour, in a lineup including Fripp, Belew, and drummers Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison.

1990s–2000s

In 1998, Levin and Bruford formed Bruford Levin Upper Extremities with trumpeter Chris Botti and guitarist David Torn; they released one studio album in 1998 and a live double album in 2000. Torn, Levin, and Bruford had worked with trumpeter Mark Isham, for Torn's 1987 studio album Cloud About Mercury. Levin also continued recording albums with his own band, the Tony Levin Band. This band consisted of drummer/saxophonist/vocalist Jerry Marotta, guitarist Jesse Gress, synthesizer programmer/player Larry Fast, and Levin's brother, keyboardist Pete Levin. He also regularly played with the California Guitar Trio when their schedules permitted.
In 1997, 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 released two albums, Liquid Tension Experiment and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 in 1998 and 1999 respectively, as well as playing short tours in 1998 and 2008. There have also been two CDs of material released under the name Liquid Trio Experiment; the first composed of studio jams from the LTE2 sessions without Petrucci, released for the band's tenth anniversary, and a live recording from a 2008 Chicago gig where Rudess's rig crashed and the other three covered for it with a nearly hour-long improvisation.
At the end of 2003 Trey Gunn left King Crimson and Levin rejoined as the bassist, although the band was only active for a handful of rehearsals at that time and the aforementioned 40th Anniversary tour in the summer of 2008.
In 2006, Levin released Resonator, The first album to feature Levin as a lyricist and lead vocalist. 2007 saw the release of Stick Man, an album of pieces recorded on the Chapman Stick.
In 2009 Levin reunited with his band from 1978, L'Image, featuring Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt, David Spinozza, and Steve Gadd. The group performed at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, toured Japan, and released the album L'Image 2.0. In 2010 Levin toured with HoBoLeMa, a group consisting of Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Levin on bass, and Pat Mastelotto and Terry Bozzio on drums. All their shows were completely improvised with no written music.
, Italy, 2010
Following on from the Stick Man album, Levin joined up with fellow player Michael Bernier and King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto to form the group Stick Men. The band released its first album Soup in 2010. Bernier left the group shortly after the release of Soup and was replaced by touch guitarist Markus Reuter in 2010. This lineup has continued with a busy touring and recording schedule, releasing the EP Absalom in 2011 and the full albums Open, and Deep.
Levin's brother, Pete Levin, is a New York keyboardist and writer who is best known for his work with Gil Evans. In the 1970s, Tony and Pete collaborated with Steve Gadd in the comedy band The Clams. Levin has stated that some of the Clams' material may eventually be released. Levin also played on Jean-Pierre Ferland's Jaune album, which included hits "Le petit roi" and "Le chat du café des artistes".
On September 24, 2013, Levin was officially announced as a member of the 8th incarnation of King Crimson, alongside band founder Robert Fripp, guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, the returning Mel Collins on saxophone, and drummers Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and new member Bill Rieflin. The group toured the United States in the autumn of 2014 and has continued to tour throughout the world since, especially in 2019 when King Crimson celebrated its 50th year in the music world.

Influence

Many artists have cited Levin as an influence or have expressed their admiration for him, including Les Claypool of Primus, Colin Hodgkinson, Nick Beggs, Al Barrow of Magnum, Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me, Zach Cooper of Coheed and Cambria and Jonathan Hischke of Dot Hacker and El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez.

Personal life

Levin met Andi Turco in 1995 when she was promoting Virgin Records in Atlanta. They married three years later. Andi Turco-Levin ran for mayor of Kingston, New York, in 2011, and for Ulster County Legislature in 2019, both campaigns unsuccessful. Turco-Levin is credited with backing vocals on the album Resonator and for photography on Levin Minnemann Rudess.
In 2003, Levin stated that he is a vegetarian.

Discography

Levin has played on hundreds of records as session musician or guest artist.
DateArtistsTitle
1995Tony LevinWorld Diary
2000Tony LevinWaters of Eden
2002Tony LevinPieces of the Sun
2002Tony LevinDouble Espresso
2006Tony Levin'Resonator'
2007Tony LevinStick Man
2019Tony LevinThe Bucket List
1974Herbie MannFirst Light as The Family of Mann
1976Herbie MannSurprises
1974 Herbie MannGagaku & Beyond
1977Herbie Mann'
1977Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
1978Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
1980Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
1982Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
1983Peter GabrielPlays Live
1985Peter GabrielBirdy
1986Peter GabrielSo
1992Peter GabrielUs
1994Peter GabrielSecret World Live
2000Peter GabrielOVO
2002Peter GabrielUp
1981King CrimsonDiscipline
1982King CrimsonBeat
1982King Crimson / Neal and Jack and Me
1984King CrimsonThree of a Perfect Pair
1984King CrimsonThree of a Perfect Pair: Live in Japan / Neal and Jack and Me
1998King Crimson'
1994King CrimsonVrooom
1995King CrimsonTHRAK
1995King Crimson'
1996King CrimsonThrakattak
1996King CrimsonLive in Japan / Déjà Vrooom / The Collectable King Crimson Volume Five
1999King CrimsonLive in Mexico City
2001King CrimsonVrooom Vrooom
1999King CrimsonThe ProjeKcts
1999King Crimson'
2012King CrimsonLive in Argentina, 1994
2014-2017King CrimsonThe Elements of King Crimson
2015King CrimsonLive at the Orpheum
2015King CrimsonLive EP 2014
2016King CrimsonLive In Toronto
2016King CrimsonRadical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind
2017King CrimsonHeroes - Live In Europe
2017King CrimsonLive In Chicago
2018King CrimsonLive in Vienna
2018King Crimson'
1989Anderson Bruford Wakeman HoweAnderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
2012Anderson Bruford Wakeman HoweLive at the NEC
1991YesUnion
1997Gorn, Levin, MarottaFrom the Caves of the Iron Mountain
1997Bozzio Levin StevensBlack Light Syndrome
2000Bozzio Levin StevensSituation Dangerous
1998ProjeKct OneLive at the Jazz Café
1999ProjeKct FourWest Coast Live
1998Liquid Tension ExperimentLiquid Tension Experiment
1999Liquid Tension ExperimentLiquid Tension Experiment 2
2007Liquid Trio ExperimentSpontaneous Combustion
2009Liquid Trio Experiment 2'
2009Liquid Tension ExperimentLiquid Tension Experiment Live 2008 – Limited Edition Boxset
2009Liquid Tension ExperimentLiquid Tension Experiment Live in NYC
2009Liquid Tension ExperimentLiquid Tension Experiment Live in LA
1998Bruford Levin Upper ExtremitiesBruford Levin Upper Extremities
2000Bruford Levin Upper ExtremitiesB.L.U.E. Nights
2008Steven WilsonInsurgentes on tracks 5 and 6
2011Steven WilsonGrace for Drowning
2009Stick MenStick Men '
2010Stick MenSoup
2011Stick MenAbsalom
2011Stick MenLive In Montevideo 2011
2011Stick MenLive In Buenos Aires 2011
2012Stick MenOpen
2013Stick MenDeep
2014Stick MenPower Play
2014Stick MenUnleashed: Live Improvs 2013
2014Stick MenSupercollider: An Anthology 2010-2014
2015Stick MenMidori: Live In Tokyo
2016Stick MenProg Noir
2017Stick MenRoppongi - Live In Tokyo 2017
2017Stick MenKONNEKTED
2011Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins A King Crimson ProjeKct A Scarcity of Miracles
2011Tony Levin, David Torn, Alan WhiteLevin Torn White
2013Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, Jordan RudessLevin Minnemann Rudess
2015Anthony Curtis and Tony LevinBook of the Key