Tony Levin

Famed for his work with <a href="spotify:artist:7C4sUpWGlTy7IANjruj02I">Peter Gabriel</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7M1FPw29m5FbicYzS2xdpi">King Crimson</a>, bass virtuoso Tony Levin was born in Boston on June 6, 1946. At age ten, he began studying upright bass, also playing tuba in his high-school marching band and even forming his own barbershop quartet; as a member of a local youth orchestra, Levin additionally performed at the White House for <a href="spotify:artist:76NiAsCnFL6eHb04zphoH6">President John F. Kennedy</a>. After attending the Eastman School of Music, he appeared with <a href="spotify:artist:5liQr6ap4vfqe1jISl3dan">the Rochester Philharmonic</a>, but over time turned away from classical music to play rock and jazz, relocating to New York City in 1970 to join Aha!, ex-<a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Mothers of Invention</a> keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:0uXxoRYzXbQO6kyRjPTV3Z">Don Preston</a>'s band.

A busy session career followed, with fluid, expressive work on classic LPs, including <a href="spotify:artist:42TFhl7WlMRXiNqzSrnzPL">Lou Reed</a>'s Berlin, <a href="spotify:artist:7krh6ZjG7i7jvLGiG3YNJF">Kate & Anna McGarrigle</a>'s self-titled debut, and <a href="spotify:artist:2CvCyf1gEVhI0mX6aFXmVI">Paul Simon</a>'s Still Crazy After All These Years. After collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:7C4sUpWGlTy7IANjruj02I">Peter Gabriel</a> on his eponymous 1977 debut, Levin joined the ex-<a href="spotify:artist:3CkvROUTQ6nRi9yQOcsB50">Genesis</a> frontman's touring unit, during which time he honed his skills on the Chapman Stick, a unique 10-stringed instrument in which the strings are not plucked but tapped, a process allowing the individual to play notes with both hands and create complete multi-part arrangements.

In 1978, Levin settled in Woodstock, NY, serving in the short-lived L'Image; a year later, he played on <a href="spotify:artist:5HKpBHDxIDNdtmEAGXGntl">Robert Fripp</a>'s solo effort Exposure, soon thereafter agreeing to join the guitarist in new a incarnation of his groundbreaking progressive unit <a href="spotify:artist:7M1FPw29m5FbicYzS2xdpi">King Crimson</a>, and remaining a member of the group for over two decades. (His tour experiences subsequently yielded a 1984 book of photographs, Road Photos.) While working on Gabriel's 1986 smash So, Levin developed Funk Fingers, essentially chopped-off drumsticks designed to hammer on the bass strings; he later sold Funk Fingers through his own Papa Bear Records label as well. Sessions with everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:5R6GD31ZP8YPGIlt73Madf">Robbie Robertson</a> (his 1987 self-titled solo debut) to <a href="spotify:artist:5hqB3Fxgin9YGYa0mIGf1G">Laurie Anderson</a> (1989's Strange Angels) to <a href="spotify:artist:7AC976RDJzL2asmZuz7qil">Yes</a> (1991's Union) followed, and in 1996, Levin finally made his solo debut with World Diary. From the Caves of the Iron Mountain, recorded with bamboo flute master <a href="spotify:artist:1CuE092UR0MnsGFKEHZNgC">Steve Gorn</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:49y11DLMhm3E67OP0OxjSO">Jerry Marotta</a>, appeared a year later and in 1998, he formed Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (B.L.U.E.) with longtime <a href="spotify:artist:7M1FPw29m5FbicYzS2xdpi">King Crimson</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1359ogdBoLfQGxKfUDfWaz">Bill Bruford</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:73hA9Hs2Vap4dGQ3nYTt6s">David Torn</a>, and trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3eFo5fMv53RYZBYlvT5Z6a">Chris Botti</a>.

Waters of Eden, Levin's Narada label debut, followed in the spring of 2000. Pieces of the Sun was released in 2001 (an expanded edition came out a year later on Pony Canyon), with many of the same tracks also included on his 2002 record, Double Espresso. Prime Cuts, a compilation of his work on sessions led by other artists on the Magna Carta label during the '90s, was issued in 2005. A bona fide new solo effort, Resonator, followed the next year, for the first time featuring Levin as a singer/songwriter as well as a bassist. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi