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Stan Levey: Jazz Heavyweight
Stan Levey is one of the most influential drummers in the history of modern jazz. During his extraordinary career, the self-taught Levey played alongside a who’s who of twentieth century jazz Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, Thelonius Monk, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald . . . the remarkable list goes on and on, and includes dozens of the most distinguished names in the annals of jazz and popular music.
Jazz Heavyweight follows Levey's prolific and colorful life, from his childhood days in rough-and-tumble North Philadelphia, to his first gig as a drummer for Dizzy Gillespie at the tender age of sixteen, to his meteoric rise as one of the most sought after sidemen in the world of bebop, to his membership in the Lighthouse All-Stars.
Jazz aficionados will relish Jazz Heavyweight for its new, never-before-published information about such hugely influential musicians as Parker, Gillespie, and Davis, while jazz neophytes will find a fast-paced, colorful encapsulation of the entire history of modern jazz. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking an up-close-and-personal look at jazz in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Jazz Heavyweight follows Levey's prolific and colorful life, from his childhood days in rough-and-tumble North Philadelphia, to his first gig as a drummer for Dizzy Gillespie at the tender age of sixteen, to his meteoric rise as one of the most sought after sidemen in the world of bebop, to his membership in the Lighthouse All-Stars.
Jazz aficionados will relish Jazz Heavyweight for its new, never-before-published information about such hugely influential musicians as Parker, Gillespie, and Davis, while jazz neophytes will find a fast-paced, colorful encapsulation of the entire history of modern jazz. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking an up-close-and-personal look at jazz in the latter half of the twentieth century.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2016
A must-read for fans of modern jazz, this is one of the best music biographies ever published. Stan Levey was self-taught, no formal training at all, and was working with Dizzy Gillespie at the age of 17. There is so much insight here about the mind of a great musician--a musician with integrity and an iron will. Stan Levey is a great inspiration.
The biographer, Frank Hayde, includes insightful commentary along with Stan's own words from hours of taped interviews.
Do not miss this.
The biographer, Frank Hayde, includes insightful commentary along with Stan's own words from hours of taped interviews.
Do not miss this.
April 5, 2025
Breezy, fascinating bio of jazz drummer Stan Levey. Lots of twists and turns in this one and Levey certainly led an eventful life.
May 20, 2019
I’ve taken to not finishing biographies. I’m drawn to read about the lives of the young and passionate and creative, ambitious to make their mark and driven to excel, in the arts or in government or wherever their gifts lead them. And I then I don’t want to read about the decline and disillusionment, the alcohol and the drugs and the self-destructiveness.
But I read Hayde’s biography of Stan Levey all the way through. It’s a good book, well researched and well written. His technique of weaving his narrative voice with Stan’s own oral autobiography proves to be not gimmicky at all; it only rounds out the picture.
Stan Levey was one of the important figures of perhaps the most creative time in American art, the bebop era. He was there at the beginning with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He played with the greats, and his drumming helped make them great. He walked away from heroin addiction.
I have become friends with his widow, Angela Levey, on Facebook, and even through the distance of only knowing her on social media I’ve grown to appreciate a remarkable human being —one who, I know from reading this book, had the fortitude to stand up to Charlie Parker when he might have drawn Stan back into the drug world.
You’ll want to read this if you care about jazz, and if you want to know more about someone who was as important in the development of this great American art form as the people he stood shoulder to shoulder with in developing it—Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Stan Kenton. Hayde’s gift is that through him you do get to know the man, and to appreciate the musician.
But I read Hayde’s biography of Stan Levey all the way through. It’s a good book, well researched and well written. His technique of weaving his narrative voice with Stan’s own oral autobiography proves to be not gimmicky at all; it only rounds out the picture.
Stan Levey was one of the important figures of perhaps the most creative time in American art, the bebop era. He was there at the beginning with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He played with the greats, and his drumming helped make them great. He walked away from heroin addiction.
I have become friends with his widow, Angela Levey, on Facebook, and even through the distance of only knowing her on social media I’ve grown to appreciate a remarkable human being —one who, I know from reading this book, had the fortitude to stand up to Charlie Parker when he might have drawn Stan back into the drug world.
You’ll want to read this if you care about jazz, and if you want to know more about someone who was as important in the development of this great American art form as the people he stood shoulder to shoulder with in developing it—Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Stan Kenton. Hayde’s gift is that through him you do get to know the man, and to appreciate the musician.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews