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Stan Levey: Jazz Heavyweight
Stan Levey is widely considered to be 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 the prolific and colorful life of Levey, from his childhood days in rough-and-tumble North Philadelphia as the son of a boxing promoter and manager with ties to the mob, to his first gig as a drummer for Dizzy Gillespie at the tender age of 16, through his meteoric rise as one of the most sought after sidemen in the world of bebop, to his membership in the Lighthouse All-Stars and his prominent role in the creation of West Coast Jazz.
Coinciding with his years anchoring the Lighthouse All-Stars, Levey recorded over two thousand tracks while doing session work with such vocalists as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Barbra Streisand. Levey ended his music career as a prolific player on literally thousands of motion picture and television show soundtracks under the direction of such legendary composers as Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, and Andre Previn.
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. Indeed, Jazz Heavyweight 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 the prolific and colorful life of Levey, from his childhood days in rough-and-tumble North Philadelphia as the son of a boxing promoter and manager with ties to the mob, to his first gig as a drummer for Dizzy Gillespie at the tender age of 16, through his meteoric rise as one of the most sought after sidemen in the world of bebop, to his membership in the Lighthouse All-Stars and his prominent role in the creation of West Coast Jazz.
Coinciding with his years anchoring the Lighthouse All-Stars, Levey recorded over two thousand tracks while doing session work with such vocalists as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Barbra Streisand. Levey ended his music career as a prolific player on literally thousands of motion picture and television show soundtracks under the direction of such legendary composers as Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, and Andre Previn.
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. Indeed, Jazz Heavyweight is essential reading for anyone seeking an up-close-and-personal look at jazz in the latter half of the twentieth century.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
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