Bob Levinson, Songwriter,Arranger, Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Fluegel Horn, Harmonica,
Influences
The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, The Gazillion hours of jazz I heard on WNEW AM on the car radio, going some where with my parents.My Mothers records of show tunes and jazz .Playing in school bands from eight years old thru high school.Playing in Bifff Hannons Jazz Band, Harry Leahy, Tuck Andress, Many ,many players I could fill a book with, Lester Bowie, My Son, Many of the young people I teach and work with, many bandmates over the years,
Who am I? I am Bob Levinson.
I first showed up in, yes, 1949, in the lovely scenic hamlet of Irvington, NJ. Later my family and I migrated to NJ’s Queen City, Plainfield, home of Parliament Funkadelic (seventies funk icon), Bill Evans (jazz piano innovator), and the Critters (60’s pop music). Music filled the streets. Everyone sang doo-wop and played an instrument. I was immediately absorbed into the thriving band scene and played for eight years with brothers, Mark and Kenny Mazur. We had various forth players and managed to interest management as well as very big producers to become involved with our endeavors. Like many inexperienced young people, we managed to turn gold into rust. However, during our eight years together, we had great times and shared the stage with a young Billy Joel (known then as Atilla) at the Village Gate in NYC. We became house regulars under the direction of Allen Pepper and Stan Snadowski and we met Markie Ramone, Orleans, Arlo Guthrie, Mose Allsion, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa, Phil Ramone and Tony Williams. We also shared the Bitter End stage in NYC with Janis Siegel (then a member of Laurel Canyon, but later to become a member of Manhattan Transfer). We did demo sessions with Todd Rundgren and right after the Woodstock movie came out, we had a “warm-up slot” before the very hot, Alvin Lee and Ten Years After.
Mark and Kenny went on to play with such notables as Robert Palmer and Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I played with members of the Smithereens. I also did commercials for Jordache Jeans and worked on New York Advertising Campaigns with Kenny Laguna, the producer of Joan Jett. I kept on playing with many different bands and signed a licensing deal with SESAC. They submitted one of my original songs for the 1980 New York City song contest. I finished in the top ten; my band mate, Joe Scelfo took first place. I was offered a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1977 but did not sign because I felt the terms were not in my favor. I thought lightning would strike again and it did with a band called the Photons; however, once again I did not like the terms of the contract.
I started recording my own tunes on a four-track at home and found this empowering. I heard what I wanted to hear for the first time. I took a little detour from my career because I was about to become a father. Some of you know the result—his name is Justin Levinson.
I never stopped writing and studying. My guitar teacher was the late, great Harry Leahy, a member of the Phil Woods 1977 Grammy Award winning jazz group. Harry also played with Jerry Mulligan, one of Billy Holiday’s saxophone players. Harry encouraged my writing and playing and got me my first teaching job. I have been teaching now for the last twenty years. You learn a lot about music and people when you teach. I should also mention that I studied the trumpet with Jim Fitzpatrick, who was a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the heart of the big band era. He was a stern taskmaster and I will always be grateful for the discipline and the great rudimental studies he taught me from the Arban Book. I have used that information in every thing I do, with every instrument I play, with everyone I teach.
Music is everything to me. It is who I am. It is what I love. We would sing acappella in my basement because we didn’t know how to play instruments; we used our voices—the first instrument God gave us. The turbulent times of the 60’s allowed for expression of the human condition. Couple that with earlier influences of the twang of Duane Eddy’s, Rebel Rouser, the amazing odd-meter of Dave Brubeck’s, Take Five and add to that the innovative rock style of Lennon and McCartney, the poetic social awareness of Bob Dylan, and the political prowess of Marvin Gaye—these are some of many musical influences that spurred my creativity and imagination. I write because music is my history. It is who I am and it is what I do. Money is nice; but music is my truth. I’m still here doing this thing and I’m grateful to be able to still keep on doing it! I’m still learning from yesterday to today, from young and old. And what else is there?
Hope you like what you hear.
Hey Bob congrat's on the CD release. You are a man of many talents and a musician I admire. I wish I could of stayed with ya. The good news I will be playing at Buddy Guys Legends on a monday night hopefully if everything works out. I am very excited about it just becouse of the place it is! As you know we both have a heart for blues. Thanks for the tips and musical inspiration. God Bless Scott
China Sea is just an amazing song and I am so impressed... I also love your version of Eleanor Rigby! Very funky! Music has always been everything to me too. I have a great appreciation for those who make it, as I'm not musically inclined in the least. Luckily, I have rhythm enough to dance to be part of the songs I hear. Though we see through different 'eyes', music has always been my inspiration as well! Just wanted to say, thank you for making music that truly inspires the rest of us to listen & to dance!
