Updated 03/01/24

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February 2024 News

The Levin Brothers is on hiatus while Tony is touring with the Stickmen band, but plans are developing for the next few months.  They have some special gigs coming up. 

In April Tony, Pete, Jeff and Ken will be in Canada for two special shows with the California Guitar Trio.  The first, on Wednesday April 3rd, they'll be in in Montreal at CLUB SODA.  On Friday April 5th, along with the GGT they'll be in Quebec City at the PALAIS MONTCALM, a beautiful 975-seat theater.  The CGT players are all old friends of Tony and Pete. Tony has sat in with them at past shows.  Maybe this time too.  Word is that the Quebec City show has already sold hundreds of tickets.  It should be spectacular.  They're hoping to see many of their Canadian friends.  

In June the Levin Brothers will be playing the Rochester Jazz Festival for the first time, and for two nights, June 26th and 27th!  Its a fantastic festival, and one of the biggest jazz festivals in the U.S.  With Ken Gioffre unavailable, they'll be joined by their recent Band Of Brothers band-mate, virtuoso sax player Pat LaBarbera.  It'll be expanded into a relatively short tour, with dates in Ontario, Canada and then coming east from Rochester.  No new studio recording plans, but possible that a live recording might come out of Rochester.  Fingers crossed.

Last month (January) Tony and Pete toured the west coast with a jazz quartet made up of two pairs of brothers, the Levins, with saxophonist Pat LaBarbera and drummer Joe LaBarbera.  Name of the band: "Band of Brothers" of course!  They did 14 shows, traveling from Southern California, north to Vancouver, then back to Orcas Island and finishing in Seattle.  By the end the band was smokin'!  They're exploring possibilities of bringing the band to the East Coast sometime in 2025. 

 
November 2023 News

The band has been on hiatus while Tony was touring with Peter Gabriel and Stickmen.  He'll be home by December 1st, and we're getting back to it.  For starters, Tony, Pete & Jeff Siegel will be doing a brief but sweet tour in mid-December.  For the last 9 years we've had a different guest as our 4th player.  It was great way of keeping us fresh and constantly re-imagining our own music.  Over the years, we've been joined by Erik Lawrence, David Spinozza, Jeff Ciampa and Ali Ryerson.  For this tour, we'll be joined by sax player Ken Gioffre.  In addition to Ken's formidable jazz chops, he's also anchored in the pop and rock music world, currently doing tours with Nile Rodgers, Chic, Smokey Robinson and Blood Sweat & Tears.  Its going to be great having him with us.
The December tour schedule is below.  Hope to see some of you there.

December 2023 Tour

A relatively short one across Upstate New York, our first with Ken Gioffre on sax.  There'll be more of that!

Sellersville, PA - beautiful theater, great place to start

Albany, New York at WAMC's beautiful theater "The Linda"
Photo by our friend Rudy Lu

Rochester, New York at The Lovin' Cup.
Photo by our friend Steve Czubara

Back in our 'hood - Woodstock, New York at The Colony
We don't remember who took this one
 

October 2022 News

The "Fade To Blue" tour is done, wrapped up with two nights at The Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, NY.  Great club, 2 nights of great audiences, lots of CDs sold and signed.  As always, our thanks to all the venues who took such good care of us, and to the folks who came out to hear us play.  You are all helping to keep the music alive in this nutty world!  Thank you!  Scroll on down to follow the tour.

September 2022 News
ON TOUR!

With the tour covering only a few sections of the U.S., many folks have asked how they might get the new "FADE TO BLUE" CD or be able to download it.  So we've made it available for downloading.  Please visit the Levin Brothers Bandcamp page. As always, we thank you for your support.

https://thelevinbrothers.bandcamp.com/

Lovin' Cup   Rochester, NY

9/6&7/22  The tour starts with a return to a wonderful venue in Rochester, NY, The Lovin' Cup.  The shows were promoted by Tom Kohn, who owns one of the most amazing record stores I've ever seen - thousands of vinyl albums carefully wrapped and sorted by genre.  The venue, great as always - and a terrific audience that turned out on a couple of school nights.  Rochester is one very cool town!  Our thanks to Aaron Winters for these great photos.

The Jazz Room   Waterloo, ON (Canada)

9/8/22 Canada, and a surprisingly easy trip through immigration - no lines!!  Waterloo, Ontario, returning to The Jazz Room, an intimate club that is a pleasure to play in.  One again a full house, enthusiastic audience, great food, and a real nice piano. What's not to like!

Royal Canadian Legion Hall   Sarnia, ON (Canada)

9/9/22 First lesson in not judging the book by the cover.  Obviously not a jazz venue; do they have bingo games on other nights?  Could have been weird, but it turned out to be a beautiful hall, with great sound and an enthusiastic audience.  Tony Marshall, the local promoter, put us in a hotel a 60-second walk away that was an easy 5 stars with a restaurant to match.  Could turn out to be the best hotel on the entire tour!  Thanks Tony.


Getting ready to go on
Token Lounge   Detroit, MI

9/10/22 The pendulum swings.  The club we were supposed to play in had been booked for an event of some kind, so our show was moved to another building, a function hall - translate "Wedding Mill."  That in itself would have been weird, but there was a big wedding reception in the room above us, with a DJ's subwoofers pounding above us.  Take out Italian was awful.  Suffice to say that we got through it.
No photos.

The Livery   Benton Harbor, MI

9/11/22 The surprises keep coming.  Looking like a low-end beer and pizza joint, this turned out to be a marvelous music venue in the heart of a city that's seen better days.  Great sound, great food, enthusiastic audience, and they put us in a terrific hotel.  Hope we can go back there before too long.


This is our ride for the tour, a Ford Transit we've named "The Black Beast."  Gas mileage not as bad as we expected, but parking the beast .... Oy!
Shank Hall   Milwaukee, WI

9/14/22  Getting a little ahead of things here.  No gig yet.  Instead, a couple of days off in an affordable Milwaukee hotel.  Rule of the road: Don't leave instruments in the van.  So it all had to be schlepped into our rooms.  Here's a shot of one of our luxury (not) suites:

Rascals   Moline, IL
9/15/22  Great evening at this family-owned club in Moline.  Full house, a great audience, great sound, and a nice Mexican restaurant next door.  (Hey, its the road.  We've gotta eat!) 
Reggie's   Chicago, IL
9/16/22 A return to this bustling music club.  Tricky load-in, including a novel dumpster in the back, but a beautiful music room.  On the menu - killer fried pickels!
Irving Theater   Indianapolis, IN
9/17/22 A return to Indianapolis at this charming old theater.
This Is Red   Pittsburgh, PA
9/18/22  A spectacular church converted to a center for the arts.  Possibly the most amazing room we've played in. Talk about your cathedral ceiling - its a cathedral!!  We never did find out what "This Is Red" means.
 

WOW!  Just, wow!

Unplanned surprise:  Erik Lawrence, who lives in Pittsburgh, toured as the 4th Levin Brother for 2 years.  He joined us on stage for an encore, an inspiring performance of Jimi Hendix's "Little Wing."
Arkell Pavilion, Southern Vermont Arts Center   Manchester, VT
9/27/22  Great concert at this spectacular arts center in the picturesque town of Manchester
10/2/22  "Fade To Blue" tour is done, wrapped up with two nights at The Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, NY.  Great club, 2 nights of great audiences, lots of CDs sold and signed.  As always, our thanks to all the venues who took such good care of us, and to the folks who came out to hear us play.  You are all helping to keep the music alive in this nutty world!  Thank you!  Scroll on down to follow the tour.

Ali was staying in Manhattan during these 2 gigs.  On Friday, she stopped Zabar's on the way up.  Post-soundcheck snack was killin' lox, whitefish salad, and real-deal New York City bagels.  Yum!

 
 
 

 

August 2022 News

8/27/22  Seems like we just got off the road, and the September tour is right around the corner - geographically different, so hopefully we'll get to see some of you.  The new CD - "FADE TO BLUE" - is in production right now.  We'll have it with us on the tour.
Here's the itinerary:
Tues September 6 Rochester, NY Lovin' Cup
Wed September 7 Rochester, NY Lovin' Cup
Thu September 8 Waterloo, ON, Canada The Jazz Room
Fri September 9 Sarnia, ON, Canada The Somerset Room
Sat September 10 Westland, MI Joy Manor
Sun September 11 Benton Harbor, MI The Livery
Wed September 14 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
Thu September 15 Moline, IL Rascals
Fri September 16 Chicago, IL Reggie's
Sat September 17 Indianapolis, IN Irving Theater
Sun September 18 Pittsburgh, PA This Is Red
Tue September 27 Manchester, Vt S.Vermont Arts Center
Fri September 30 Tarrytown, NY Jazz Forum
Sat October 1 Tarrytown, NY Jazz Forum

6/27/22 Home and recovering from the tour.  We took a couple of days off, then gathered at NRS Studio in Catskill, NY to record.  This will be Levin Brothers' first studio recording since our debut 2014 CD release.  We recorded pretty much everything we'd been playing live on the tour, plus a few others.  Now into post-production.  Likely this will be released in August, in time for our planned September tour.

Pete, Ali, Jeff & Tony, with NRS Studio owner/engineer Scott Petito

6/6/22  Happy Birthday, Tony!
6/11/22  Happy Birthday, Jeff!

It was a year ago June that we were celebrating coming out of the F$&#@% pandemic by getting back out on the road.  The Vaccinating Rhythm Tour was short, but very successful - we had a great time.  (Photos and stuff just below.)  So here we are again - June is busting out all over, and we're giving it another go.

Since 2014, the core group has always been the trio Tony, Pete, and Jeff "Siege" Siegel.  This year we'll be having a special guest for each tour.  In June we'll be joined by the phenomenal jazz flutist, Ali Ryerson.  Internationally known and consistently placing on the Downbeat Readers' Poll for years, Ali has released several solo albums and has performed with a long list of jazz greats, including Kenny Barron, Joe Beck, Mike Mainieri, Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Luciano Pavarotti.  We're really looking forward to this one!  Meanwhile, we're building tours for this September through the Northeast and Central U.S., and the Far East in January.  And we're planning to record a new studio album with Ali Ryerson right after the June tour.  Stay tuned . . .
Hope to see you at one of these.

Wednesday, June 15th   Marlboro, NY @ The Falcon
Thursday, June 16th   Piermont, NY @ The Turning Point
Friday, June 17th   Natick, MA @ Natick Center For The Arts
Saturday, June 18th   Broad Brook, CT @ Broad Brook Opera House
Sunday, June 19th   Hudson Falls, NY @ The Strand Theater
Tuesday, June 21st  Morristown, NJ @ Homestead Bar & Kitchen
Wednesday, June 22nd  Lewes, DE @ The Room at Cedar Grove
Thursday, June 23rd   Kennett Square, PA @ Kennett Flash

6/15/22  The tour starts!  Full house and an enthusiastic audience at The Falcon in Marlboro, NY.  What a great way to start a tour.  The group was a little hesitant at first but we found our groove quickly.  Great night!  Photos by our friend Jane Goodis Ciresi.
6/16/22  Piermont, NY @ The Turning Point
Small, legendary music club a few miles north of New York City.  Amazing list of people who have played here.
 
6/17/22  Natick, MA @ Natick Center For The Arts  (TCAN)
Beautiful venue that we've played at several times.  Now a band tradition - Every time we play at TCAN, the morning after means a trip to Zaftig's, an excellent Jewish deli.
6/18/22  Broad Brook, CT @ Broad Brook Opera House
Our first time here.  Beautiful venue in an amazing restored 130-year-old building.
6/19/22  Hudson Falls, NY @ The Strand Theater
Beautiful theater that we've played at several times.  Photos by Rudy Lu for a review and article in Nippertown Magazine
 
Rehearsing for the tour - Kingston, NY:  New music with Ali Ryerson
 

Looking ahead: We'll be touring in September.  Looks like Upstate New York, Ontario Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio maybe ....  We'll be spending some gas money, so please buy our new CD.  Details coming soon.

June 2021 News - The Vaccinating Rhythm Tour
 

It's a wrap!  Our comeback from the pandemic: Eight gigs this month, The "Vaccinating Rhythm Tour 2021." We Brought along a new CD, recorded in January 2020 at the last gig we did before Covid restrictions shut the music industry down, as well as a spiffy tour t-shirt!  We revisited some of our favorite venues, some where we did shows in 2019 and 2020.  Not exactly a world tour - (more like a taking turns driving the van tour) - but we were really happy to be getting back out on the road.  Like all musicians, we've been really missing the experience of playing live.  Many of the venues were still restricted to limited seating, so all the shows sold out quickly.  Our sincere thanks to all the folks who came out and to the venues and crews that hosted us.  It was great!
Tony will be touring with King Crimson for most of 2021, so the Levin Brothers Band is likely on hiatus until 2022.  Lots of irons in that fire - Northeast U.S., Far East, South America, Europe.  Stay tuned ...

 


Leonardo Pavkoviç, Tony, Jeff Ciampa, Pete, Jeff "Siege" Siegel

6/9/21  The Falcon  Marlboro, NY
6/10/21  Sellersville Theater   Sellersville, NY

6/11/21  The Room at Cedar Grove   Lewes, DE

6/12/21  Kennett Flash   Kennett Square, PA
Vaccination Tour shots by Avraham Bank!
6/16/21  Daryl's House Club   Pawling, NY
6/17/21  Strand Theater   Hudson Falls, NY
6/18/21  Westcott Theater   Syracuse, NY

Beautiful theater front.  What's wrong with this photo?
"Wicked Rock N Roll?"  Not exactly what we do!
That's my blue SUV parked in the fire lane.  Left it there for 8 hours; nobody cared.

Inside - not quite as nice as the outside

Wicked Jazz!
6/26/21  Bearsville Theater   Woodstock, NY
 

January 2020: The Snowtire Tour

The Snowtire Tour wrapped up on the 26th.  It was eventful and tiring, but the music was great, the venues were great, the audiences were great, and the food was great.  We saw many old friends and met many new ones.  Our thanks to all the venues and promoters, and especially to all the folks who came out to hear us.  There were many full houses, some of them sold out.  No words to express how gratifying that is.  The final show at Daryl's House was recorded.  We're exploring turning that into a live album and video.  Stay tuned ...

There's a photo page with images from these last 20 gigs.  Come and take the tour with us.  Click on the snowtire.

The Levin Brothers Band   Winter 1919-20 Snowtire Tour

New York, NY   Kennet Square, PA   Sellersville, PA   Piermont, NY
Hudson Falls, NY   Natick, MA   Portland, ME


This is how it started.  Headed for New York City for the 1st show.
Click on the snowtire for tour photos

 
Rehearsals:  November, 2019  Kingston, NY

Meet our friend, guitarist Jeff Ciampa, who'll be joining us on the upcoming tour.  A veteran NYC studio musician, Jeff's extensive jazz credits include stints with Ornette Coleman, Dave Matthews, Harry Belafonte, Bill Evans and Mark Egan. We'll officially initiate him as a 'Levin Brother From Another Mother' at Zaftig Deli in Natick, Mass. (potato latkes to die, the best bagels outside of Brooklyn!)  Of course the problem is that there are now 2 Jeffs in the band.  This could get confusing!

 

 

 

January 2019 News

Tony and Pete are finally bringing the Levin Brothers Band to the West Coast.  Along with our long-time drummer (Levin Brother from another mother) Jeff "Siege" Siegel, we'll be headed west in January, playing from northern California down to Mexico.  On 4 of the dates, we're co-billed with the legendary British band, Soft Machine.

Then, back home in March, we'll be doing a few shows in the Northeast.  For those, we'll be joined our friend, master guitarist David Spinozza.  (There's a short bio below in "The Band" section.)  David played on the original 2014 "Levin Brothers" album but has yet to do any of our live gigs.  We're really looking forward to that - and of course, looking forward to meeting up with many friends along the way.

 

January 2018
The Levin Brothers Band has just completed 2 tours this month, a leg going from Pennsylvania to our home turf in Woodstock, NY, and a week in Japan, our first time there as a band.  Tour photos below.

 

During our Spring 2017 tour, we recorded 3 of our shows, which will became a Levin Brothers' live recording - our first!  The CD  - "Special Delivery" includes a lot of the music we've been performing live that isn't on our debut Lazybones album.
 

Tuesday January 2 - Kennett Square, PA @ Kennett Flash
Wednesday January 3 - Vienna, VA @ Jammin' Java
Thusday January 4 - Annapolis, MD @ Ramshead
Friday January 5 - New Hope, PA @ Havana
Saturday January 6 -  Montclair, NJ @ Trumpets
Sunday January 7 - Woodstock, NY @ The Colony

Thursday January 18 - Tokyo, Japan @ Blues Alley
Friday January 19 - Yokohama, Japan @ Motion Blue
Saturday January 20 - Nagoya, Japan @ Star Eyes
Monday January 22 - Osaka, Japan @ Banana Hall

 
Rams Head ~ Annapolis, Maryland ~ 1/4/18
Photos by Avraham Bank
Japan

The band with our Japanese promoter, Masa Goto

Osaka @ Banana Hall:  Soundcheck
Pete and Masa Goto

Tokyo @ Blues Alley

Pete and Leonardo Pavkovic, waiting for the Bullet Train to Osaka
Soundcheck @ Motion Blue, Yokohama

Tokyo

The Levin Brothers are now signed to a major record label.  We had a wonderful run with Lazybones.  President Scott Schorr could not have been more supportive.  Our debut album on Lazybones has been picked up by BMG, who are re-releasing it.  The CD is available on Amazon now.

Check the new buy links

 
 

LIVE: The Levin Brothers @ the Van Dyck, 3/31/17
Nippertown ~ Albany, NY
April 5th, 2017   By Ed Conway

Sublime – if I had to describe the evening in one word that would be it. Brothers Pete and Tony Levin, each have a storied musical history. While you may not be familiar with their names, if you have listened to music, you have heard them play. Pete has worked with such diverse artists as Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Annie Lennox, Paul Simon and Salt ‘N Pepa, the full list is far too long to include here. Tony is best known for his work with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and his own band The Stickmen ....

Click for the full review and photos

 

4/4/17  Great night in New York City at Iridium Jazz Club, the final night of a 7-city swing through the Northeast U.S., concluding our Spring 2017 tour.  Our thanks to all the enthusiastic folks who came to the shows.  We're working on possible dates in December in the NY Metropolitan area, and in January 2018, the West Coast and Japan - and the release of a double live CD later this year.  All tentative at this point, but we're workin' on it.  Stay tuned ....

3/25/17  Final South America concert last night in San Salvador.  Tomorrow, a red-eye flight back to Newark, NJ and home.  2 days off and we start a 7-gig run in the Northeast, beginning in Pawling, New York at Daryl's House Club.  The full schedule is just below this blog, with links (in blue) to the venues' websites.  We'll be recording in Natick, MA and Rochester, NY for a live album to be released later this year.  They're all terrific venues that we played on the 2015 Levin Brothers Band tour.  Hope to see many of you there at these gigs.

3/22/17  Two airplanes and a hell of a lot of paperwork and we've arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador.  We've got a day off here, mostly set aside for PR interviews.  Concert Friday night; then on Saturday we fly to Newark and home. A couple of days to get our heads screwed on, and we're off on a 7-concert swing through the Northeast.  Check the itinerary just above; the blue text has links to the clubs' websites.

3/21/17  Concert tonight in Le Paz, Bolivia.  We arrived in this beautiful city last night, and were blown away by the spectacular views of the millions of lights on the surrounding hills and temperatures in the mid-'60s.  The only down side here is the altitude - 12,000 feet above sea level!  For us gringos, it's an effort just walking slowly up a small incline. What's that like performing?  I guess will find out.
Tomorrow we fly to El Salvador for a concert, and then back home for a couple of days rest before our Northeast U.S. gigs.

3/19/17  Finished in Buenos Aires last night, the last of several sold-out shows in some beautiful old theaters around the country.  Did press conferences, a live radio show with Astor Piazzolla's grandson, and ate lots of great food.  Today, in search of local Tango music and dancing.  Tomorrow, we head for Bolivia.  Hate to say it to our New York friends and neighbors, but the weather here has been beautiful.  Sorry guys!

3/14/17  It's a van tour now, with Leonardo, our agent, and Max, our irrepressible road manager.  All over Argentina.  The weather is beautiful, in contrast to the news we're getting from home - 3 feet of snow in Woodstock so far!  Yikes!

3/8/17  We're camped out in Santiago, Chile.  Beautiful weather, beautiful city and people.  We're rehearsing tomorrow at the ProJazz School.  Then on Saturday, we fly to Montevideo and the tour starts back up for real.  Photos on the 2017 TOUR PAGE when we've got 'em.

3/4/17  The 2017 tour has begun!  We started with a gig in our own Woodstock, New York back yard, playing to a packed house in an intimate local venue.  It served as a warm-up before heading for South America.  Some photos on the 2017 TOUR PAGE and more as we travel.


Rosendale, NY  3/4/17  Photo: Steve Czubara

 

2015

Tony, Pete, Erik & "Siege" in Albany, NY at WAMC's performance space, "The Linda" June 12, 2015


Tony, Pete, Erik Lawrence and Jeff "Siege" Siegel
Click on the venue name for info and advance tickets

Sat 3/14 Rosendale, NY Rosendale Cafe
Sun 3/15 Piermont, NY The Turning Point
Tue 3/17 East Aurora, NY Medici House
Wed 3/18 Rochester, NY Lovin' Cup
Fri 3/20 Schenectady, NY Van Dyck
Sat 3/21 Dunellen, NJ Roxy & Dukes
Tue 3/24 Northhampton, MA Iron Horse
Wed 3/25 Natick, MA Natick Center for the Arts
Thu 3/26 Norfolk, CT Infinity Hall
Fri 3/27 New York, NY Iridium
Sat 3/28 New York, NY Iridium
Sun 3/29 New Hope, PA Havana
Fri 6/12 Albany, NY WAMC'S The Linda
Sat 6/13 Marlboro, NY The Falcon


Our thanks for the hospitality at these 11 great venues, to the photographers who contributed to our tour gallery page, and special thanks to all the folks who came out for our maiden voyage.
To be continued ...

  DownBeat Magazine, July 2015:  Transcription of Tony's Solo on "Havana"

DownBeat Magazine, February 2015: Ken Micallef interviews The Levin Brothers


The Levin Brothers @ NAMM - January 2015
  John Kelman's review for "All About Jazz" 12/11/14
"... its relaxed ambience breathes friendship and family
even as it pays tribute to the cool jazz that inspired both brothers"
 Nick Deriso interviews Tony for "Something Else" 12/5/14
  Ira Kantor's review for Elmore Magazine  11/6/14
"... a hearty portion of tightly cohesive songs that merge the best of Bach with the pace of bop."
Tony's interview with Shane Handler for Glide 10/23/14
   Peter Thalen's review for Exposè 10/14/14
"... every single cut qualifies as a standout!"
Können Sie Deutsch lesen? Hier ist die Brüder Levin!
Wolfgang Giese's review for RockTimes 10/14/14
"... This is pure jazz, inspired by the music that the brothers
heard in the fifties and came to love."
The Daily Vault review 10/7/14
" ... there is a remarkable purity and innocence to this music. THE LEVIN BROTHERS manages to be both serious and playful without ever losing the passion and edge that comes from pairing two masters of their instruments playing a style of music they both love. A terrific album not just for fans of classic jazz, but for fans of music, period."
Jazz Times review 10/5/14
"... a player from the Jazz league has teamed up with one from the Progressive league and they both show just how they can swing. 'Cool' doesn’t come close to fully describing this album."

     "We grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, where we were trained in Classical music from a young age. But we also loved the 1950's recordings by jazz bassist Oscar Pettiford and jazz French horn player Julius Watkins; and those have remained influential, even as we went on to other playing. The catchy melodies, deep grooves, and tight solos made that music memorable, and it's been percolating for years for us to do an album of our own in that style.

     "The two of us have crossed musical paths many times over the last decades, having toured together with Paul Simon, and played in each others groups and albums; but we've never done a Levin Brothers album 'til now, and it's pretty special for us.

     "After writing material for it over the last few years, we invited outstanding players familiar with the musical territory to join in - guitarist David Spinozza, sax player Erik Lawrence and drummer Jeff Siegel. Steve Gadd appears as a special guest on the album, playing drums on two songs, "Bassics" and "Fishy Takes A Walk."
(* Tony and Steve's history dates back to their days in school together, followed by a lot of albums and tours.)

     "The sessions took place at Scott Petito's NRS Studio, in the Woodstock area where we live. The material is all our own, all new compositions except the lovely King Crimson song, "Matte Kudasai." Because we kept the songs short, there was room for a lot of material on this release; the CD has 14 tracks plus 2 exclusive bonus tracks.

     "Another long time wish that's come true with this release - a vinyl LP version of the music. We're told that 'Vinyl is coming back' and we're ready for that. In pre-orders, we're offering a special limited edition LP (1,000) with unique colored vinyl, each signed and numbered by us. The LP has 12 tracks, with a card enclosed to digitally download the CD's 14 tracks. We'll also be autographing the first 1,000 CD's ordered.


August 1, 2014
Woodstock, NY

 

  September 9, 2014: “LEVIN BROTHERS” officially released by Lazy Bones Recordings on Compact Disc. The CD, in addition to the 14 basic tracks, will include 2 bonus tracks that are not available anywhere else. The first 1,000 CDs will be individually signed by Tony & Pete.

  September 16, 2014: “LEVIN BROTHERS” officially released by Lazy Bones Recordings on vinyl LP. The 12" LP is a Special Limited Edition, pressed in gold vinyl with smoky swirls. (image below) A digital download card is included for the 14 tracks from the CD release.  1,000 Special Edition LPs will be individually signed and numbered by Tony & Pete.

Online sales by BMG Records
at Amazon.com
 

CD
With 2 CD-exclusive
bonus tracks

ORDER
$15.98 + shipping


MP3 download
 

ORDER
$9.49


 

 

 

     "This album's about a few things. It's a long overdue 'first record' by two brothers who've been making records individually for ... well, a lot of years! And it's a return home, for me and Pete, to the music we first shared as kids - the 'cool jazz' of the 50's. So it's been a labor of love to write pieces in that style, woodshed my cello playing, so as to use it as a lead instrument, and put together a record with melody based songs, short solos, and, hopefully, the chemistry of musicians who play like ... like brothers!

     "You'll see us in suits in the session photos - that was an effort to help be immersed in the genre of the music. Back in the 50's, I guess everyone put on a suit and tie to go to work, even jazz players. It took awhile to get used to, but was actually kind of fun. Old school!
 
    "We think this album will appeal to anyone who likes instrumental music, and it's a special treat to be able to offer it in vinyl (with digital download card, of course) as well as CD."

 

     "Jazz musicians share a common trait; we're standing on the shoulders of a long succession of players, going all the way back to Louis Armstrong. Their spirit is alive in the fabric of everything that we play. It's only natural that, periodically, we want to revisit our roots.

     "Last year, Tony called me to say he was getting into jazz cello and did I have time to get together and play. His idea was to revisit music we listened to as kids, soulful jazz with melodies we could still scat after 50 years. We wrote some tunes, jammed, wrote some more, and talked about doing local trio gigs. It was a natural progression to ... hey wait, let's record this!

     "Style-wise, Tony and I have had divergent careers, although our musical paths have crossed many times, backing other artists and playing in each other's bands. But this is our first time developing a project together. With our common roots, similar music training and decades of recording experience, getting our minds in sync with the concept and the plan was easy. In the Woodstock, NY community where we live, we're surrounded by great recording studios and great musicians. Now, with the enthusiastic support of an indie label, we're rockin'!  (Well, swinging actually.)"

 
 

The Levin Brothers debut album was recorded at NRS Studio in Catskill, New York, just outside of Woodstock, NY.  The studio is owned by former Fugs bassist and guitarist, Scott Petito, himself a highly skilled musician and award-winning recording engineer.  Scott recorded and mixed the album during the winter and spring of 2014.  In June, Tony and Pete brought the project to Silvertone Mastering in Saratoga Springs, NY where the award-winning mastering engineer Larry DeVivo applied the finishing touches.

 
 

LEVIN BROTHERS

Produced by LEVIN BROTHERS and SCOTT SCHORR
Recorded January & February, 2014
Recorded and mixed by SCOTT PETITO at NRS STUDIO, Catskill, NY
Mastered by LARRY DEVIVO at SILVERTONE, Saratoga Springs, NY
Vinyl master by CAMERON HENRY at WELCOME TO 1979 STUDIOS
Steve Gadd recorded by CLARKE RIGSBY at TEMPEST RECORDING

PETE LEVIN: piano & organ
TONY LEVIN: cello & bass
ERIK LAWRENCE: tenor saxophone
DAVID SPINOZZA: guitar
JEFF "SIEGE" SIEGEL: drums
STEVE GADD: drums on "Bassics" & "Fishy Takes A Walk"

Graphic design by EDWARD AISH at PRO-VISION
Cover photo by DION OGUST
Video photography by JACK CASADONE
Liner notes by ANIL PRASAD
All songs written by Pete & Tony Levin, except "MATTE KUDASAI", by Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp & Tony Levin
All songs published by CAT FROM GUATEMALA MUSIC (ASCAP), except "MATTE KUDASAI" published by EDITIONS EG (ASCAP) and UNIVERSAL MUSIC CAREERS (BMI)

Tony plays NS DESIGN Bass and Cello
Pete plays NORD keyboard instruments

 

CD
With 2 CD-exclusive
bonus tracks

ORDER
$15.98 + shipping


MP3 download
 

ORDER
$9.49

 

For live performance inquiries
contact Leonardo Pavkovic
at MoonJune Music


 

Lazy Bones Recordings is an indie label and publishing company founded by music producer, Scott Schorr. Lazy Bones works with the finest indie bands and singer/songwriters and fosters a creative environment to produce first rate recordings. With few exceptions, Lazy Bones works with its artists from the inception of the recording through completion of the Master. Their goal: to work with the potential "catalog" artists - one that creates numerous, meaningful recordings that will stand the test of time. Once done, Lazy Bones licenses the artists' songs to the film, television and advertising world.

For further info, media or licensing inquiries,

contact Scott Schorr

(310) 281-6232

 

 

Bassist - by Paul Levin, 1957.  mahogany

BASS PLAYER  by Paul Levin (Tony & Pete's dad) 1957
 

CD
With 2 CD-exclusive
bonus tracks

ORDER
$15.98 + shipping


MP3 download
 

ORDER
$9.49

 


Click lower right for full-screen
 

 

 

Since graduating from the Eastman School of music, Tony has become the bass and Chapman Stick voice for Peter Gabriel and King Crimson. In addition, he has played on notable recordings for John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Dire Straits, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, and many others. Tony has major jazz credentials, having worked with Buddy Rich, Steps Ahead, L'Image, Gary Burton, Chuck Mangione, and Herbie Mann. He currently records and tours with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Stick Men, and The Crimson ProjeKCt.

As a French Horn major, Pete earned a master’s degree from the Juilliard School. In the early ‘70s he switched to keyboards, becoming a synthesizer specialist in the New York City recording studio scene. Over the years, he has graced hundreds of jazz and pop recordings and performances by the likes of Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Jimmy Giuffre, Dave Brubeck, David Sanborn, Joe Louis Walker, Don Elliott, Freddie Hubbard, Annie Lennox, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius and Wayne Shorter. He currently records with his organ trio with Dave Stryker and Lenny White.

Drummer/Composer Jeff Siegel is a veteran of the New York Jazz Scene and has worked with a virtual who's-who of jazz artists. A member of Sir Roland Hanna's Trio from 1994-99, Jeff has performed and recorded with jazz legends including Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Benny Golson, Frank Foster, Helen Merrill and Mose Allison.

Special guest

An in-demand New York studio guitarist for decades, David has the unique credit of having worked with three of the former Beatles - Paul, John and Ringo. (Not at the same time.) He produced James Taylor's album Walking Man, has recorded with Billy Joel, Dr. John and Paul Simon and was a member of the Saturday Night Live Band from 1980-82. In 2009, David reunited with his band "L'Image" with Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt, Tony Levin and Steve Gadd.

The son of jazz saxophonist and rock guru Arnie Lawrence, Erik is a longtime member of Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band.  His innovative band "Hipmotism" features Sex Mob’s slide trumpet player Steven Bernstein. Equally proficient on flute and saxophone, Erik's career as a sideman has included work with Buddy Miles, Chico Hamilton, Joan Osborne, The Spin Doctors and master Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog.

Special guest

One of the most in-demand drummers in the world, Steve has worked with an incredible array of artists, including Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, David Sanborn, Peter Gabriel, Chick Corea, Aretha Franklin and "Stuff", a band he co-led with pianist Richard Tee. Friends and colleagues since college, Steve and Tony were Chuck Mangione's first rhythm section.



 

Bassist for the legendary 60’s punk band, The Fugs, Scott is a multi-talented musician with extensive performance credits. A Grammy-nominated recording engineer and producer, Scott owns and operates NRS Recording in Catskill, NY.

 www.scottpetitoproductions.com/

An award-winning engineer based in the San Francisco Bay area, Larry relocated to Saratoga Springs, NY and launched Silvertone Mastering, a dedicated mastering facility that fills a big void in the Upstate New York region. For Larry, Silvertone was the next logical step in his personal quest for sonic audio perfection.

www.silvertonemastering.com/

 

Updated 03/01/24  All content © 2014, 2015, 2020, 2022, Levin Brothers