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Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (1981–1984, 1994–1998, 2008, 2011, 2014–2021) and Peter Gabriel (since 1977). He is also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment (1997–1999, 2008–2009, 2020–present), Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998–2000) and HoBoLeMa (2008–2010). He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.
A prolific session musician since the 1970s, Levin has played on over 500 albums. Some notable sessions include work with John Lennon, Herbie Mann, Tony Levin allmusic.com Retrieved 14 February 2024 Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Stevie Nicks, Pink Floyd, Robbie Robertson, Eumir Deodato, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Joan Armatrading, Tom Waits, Buddy Rich, The Roches, Todd Rundgren, Seal, Warren Zevon, Bryan Ferry, Laurie Anderson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Gibonni, Chuck Mangione and Jean-Pierre Ferland. He has toured with artists including Paul Simon (with whom he appeared in the 1980 film One-Trick Pony), Gary Burton, James Taylor, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, Peter Frampton, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, Ivano Fossati, Claudio Baglioni and Lawrence Gowan.
Levin helped to popularize the Chapman Stick and the NS electric upright bass. He also created "funk fingers", modified drumsticks that attach to the fingers of the player in order to strike the bass strings, adding a distinctive percussive "slap" sound used in funk bass playing. In 2011, Levin ranked #2 behind John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin in the "20 Most Underrated Bass Guitarists" in Paste magazine. In July 2020, Levin was ranked #42 on the "50 Greatest Bassists of All Time" list by Rolling Stone magazine.
After high school, he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Also at Eastman, he studied with drummer Steve Gadd. He traded in his Ampeg electric upright "Baby Bass" for a Fender Precision Bass; in the early days his first bass amplifier was an Ampeg Portaflex B-15. Levin's first recording was in 1968, when he and Gadd played on Diana in the Autumn Wind, Gap Mangione's first solo album.
In 1971, John McLaughlin asked Levin to join his new project, the Mahavishnu Orchestra: "My original choice for bass was Tony Levin. But he told me, 'Oh man, I just took a gig with Gary Burton.'" From 1973 to 1975, Levin and Steve Gadd played in the band of veteran jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Two of Levin's early compositions (“Daffodil” and “Music Is a Game We Play”) were featured on the 1973 Mann album First Light.
In 1976, Levin helped create the lush textures on Andy Pratt's Resolution album, which featured numerous notable musicians including Arif Mardin, Andy Newmark, Hugh McDonald, Luther Vandross, and Levin's frequent rhythm section partner Steve Gadd. Allmusic.com and Rolling Stone magazine rated this album as one of the best singer/songwriter albums of the 1970s.
In 1977, Levin joined Peter Gabriel's band. He had met Gabriel through producer Bob Ezrin with whom Levin had recorded Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare and Lou Reed's Berlin. Levin has been Gabriel's bass player of choice ever since. On Gabriel's first solo album, Levin played tuba as well, and directed and sang with a barbershop quartet on "Excuse Me". Levin has been the bassist on all of Gabriel's studio albums with a few exceptions (e.g., John Giblin's fretless bass playing on Peter Gabriel III, some additional work by Larry Klein and Bill Laswell on So). Gabriel nicknamed Levin the “Emperor of the Bottom End.”
In his years with Gabriel, Levin developed two unique aspects of his playing: further advancement on the Chapman Stick, which he would later utilize heavily in King Crimson, and invented funk fingers which are short drum stick strapped to the fingers to strike the bass strings, resulting in a very percussive effect. Levin credits Gabriel with the concept and his tech Andy Moore with actually making them workable.
In 1978, Levin moved to Woodstock, New York, to join the band L'Image, which included his old friend Steve Gadd as well as Mike Mainieri and Warren Bernhardt. The band broke up after a year, though Levin decided to stay in the area: he currently resides in Kingston, New York. This Ill-fated group would reunite much later in Levin's career. On the first day of recording Peter Gabriel's first album in late 1976, Levin met both Peter Gabriel and King Crimson guitarist/composer Robert Fripp for the first time, and in 1978 he played on Fripp's solo album Exposure. This would lead Levin to become a member of the 1981–1984 incarnation of King Crimson, along with Fripp, guitarist/vocalist Adrian Belew, and drummer Bill Bruford. Levin recorded four studio albums as part of King Crimson: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) and THRAK (1995), all critically acclaimed.
In 1980, Levin participated in the sessions for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album. In 1987, Levin played the bass and Chapman Stick parts on the Pink Floyd album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. In 1988 Bruford asked Levin to be an "unofficial fifth member" in the Yes-related supergroup Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which consisted of all the members from the classic Yes lineup except bassist Chris Squire, though Levin only performed as a session player on the group's eponymous album. Due to illness, he was unable to play on some of the final dates of the accompanying tour, being replaced by Jeff Berlin. Levin also played on the Yes album Union in 1991.
In 1984 Levin released Road Photos, a collection of black and white photos taken during his travels with King Crimson, Gabriel, Simon, and others. Another book of photos focusing on King Crimson's travels in the 1980s, The Crimson Chronicles volume 1, was released in 2004. Levin has also written a book of career anecdotes and road stories called Beyond the Bass Clef.
In 1998, Levin and Bruford formed Bruford Levin Upper Extremities with trumpeter Chris Botti and guitarist David Torn; they released one studio album in 1998 and a live double album in 2000. Torn, Levin, and Bruford had worked with trumpeter Mark Isham for Torn's album Cloud About Mercury. Levin also continued recording albums with his own band, consisting of drummer/saxophonist/vocalist Jerry Marotta, guitarist Jesse Gress, synthesizer programmer/player Larry Fast, and Levin's brother, keyboardist Pete Levin. He also regularly played (and occasionally recorded) with the California Guitar Trio when their schedules permitted.
In 1997, Levin teamed up with Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, members of Dream Theater, as well as future Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess, for a project called Liquid Tension Experiment. The combo released two albums, Liquid Tension Experiment and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 in 1998 and 1999 respectively, as well as playing short tours in 1998 and 2008. There have also been two CDs of material released under the name "Liquid Trio Experiment"; the first composed of studio jams from sessions without Petrucci ( Spontaneous Combustion), released for the band's tenth anniversary, and a live recording from a 2008 Chicago show where Rudess's equipment failed and the other three covered for it with a nearly hour-long improvisation ( When the Keyboard Breaks). During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the group reconvened and recorded Liquid Tension Experiment 3.
At the end of 2003 Trey Gunn left King Crimson and Levin rejoined as the bassist, although the band was only active for a handful of rehearsals at that time. In 2006, Levin released Resonator, The first album to feature Levin as a lyricist and lead vocalist. 2007 saw the release of Stick Man, an album of pieces recorded on the Chapman Stick. In 2008, Levin joined King Crimson's 40th Anniversary Tour, in a lineup including Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto, and Harrison. He holds the record as King Crimson’s longest-serving bassist overall.
In 2009 Levin reunited with his band from 1978, L'Image, featuring Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt, David Spinozza, and Steve Gadd. The group performed at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, toured Japan, and released the album L'Image 2.0. In 2010 Levin toured with HoBoLeMa, a group consisting of Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Terry Bozzio on drums, Levin on bass, and Pat Mastelotto on drums. All their shows were completely improvised with no written music.
Building upon the Stick Man album, Levin joined up with Michael Bernier and Pat Mastelotto to form the group Stick Men. The band released its first album Soup in 2010. Bernier left the group shortly after the release of Soup and was replaced by touch guitarist Markus Reuter. This lineup has continued with a busy touring and recording schedule, with their most recent recording Tentacles released in 2022.
Levin's brother, Pete Levin, is a New York keyboardist and writer who is known for his work with Gil Evans. In the 1970s, Tony and Pete collaborated with Steve Gadd in the comedy band The Clams. Levin has stated that some of the Clams' material may eventually be released. Levin also played on Jean-Pierre Ferland's Jaune album, which included hits "Le petit roi" and "Le chat du café des artistes".
On September 24, 2013, Levin was officially announced as a member of the eighth incarnation of King Crimson, alongside band founder Robert Fripp, guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, the returning Mel Collins on saxophone, drummers Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison, and new member Bill Rieflin. The group toured the United States in the autumn of 2014 and continued to tour throughout the world until 2021, including 2019 when King Crimson celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In 2024, Levin and former King Crimson member Adrian Belew announced the creation of the supergroup Beat, which includes guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Danny Carey. With the approval of Robert Fripp, this group performs material from the early 1980s incarnation of King Crimson. In September 2024, Levin released the solo album Bringing It Down to the Bass, featuring guest appearances with many of his former bandmates and collaborators.
| 1995 | Tony Levin | World Diary |
| 2000 | Waters of Eden | |
| 2002 | Pieces of the Sun | |
| 2002 | Double Espresso | |
| 2006 | Resonator | |
| 2007 | Stick Man | |
| 2019 | The Bucket List | |
| 2024 | Bringing It Down to the Bass | |
| 1974 | Herbie Mann | First Light as The Family of Mann |
| 1976 | Surprises | |
| 1974 1976 | Gagaku & Beyond | |
| 1977 | ||
| 1977 | Peter Gabriel | Peter Gabriel (Car) |
| 1978 | Peter Gabriel (Scratch) | |
| 1980 | Peter Gabriel (Melt) | |
| 1982 | Peter Gabriel (Security) | |
| 1983 | Plays Live | |
| 1985 | Birdy | |
| 1986 | So | |
| 1992 | Us | |
| 1994 | Secret World Live | |
| 2000 | OVO | |
| 2002 | Up | |
| 2003 | Growing Up Live | |
| 2005 | ||
| 2014 | ||
| 2023 | i/o | |
| 1981 | King Crimson | Discipline |
| 1982 | Beat | |
| 1982 | (VHS) / Neal and Jack and Me (DVD) | |
| 1984 | Three of a Perfect Pair | |
| 1984 | (VHS) / Neal and Jack and Me (DVD) | |
| 1998 | ||
| 1994 | Vrooom | |
| 1995 | THRAK | |
| 1995 | ||
| 1996 | Thrakattak | |
| 1996 | Live in Japan (VHS) / Déjà Vrooom (DVD) / The Collectable King Crimson Volume Five (Live in Japan 1995 – The Official Edition) | |
| 1999 | Live in Mexico City | |
| 2001 | Vrooom Vrooom | |
| 1999 | The ProjeKcts | |
| 1999 | ||
| 2012 | Live in Argentina, 1994 (DVD-A) | |
| 2014–2017 | The Elements of King Crimson | |
| 2015 | Live at the Orpheum | |
| 2015 | Live Extended play 2014 (Vinyl Cyclops Picture Disc) | |
| 2016 | Live In Toronto | |
| 2016 | Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind | |
| 2017 | Heroes – Live In Europe (2016) | |
| 2017 | Live In Chicago (2017 – Chicago Theater) | |
| 2018 | Live in Vienna (2016 – Museumsquartier) | |
| 2018 | ||
| 2024 | Sheltering Skies (Live in Fréjus, August 27th 1982) | |
| 1989 | Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe | Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe |
| 2012 | Live at the NEC | |
| 1991 | Yes | Union |
| 1997 | Steve Gorn, Levin, Jerry Marotta | From the Caves of the Iron Mountain |
| Bozzio Levin Stevens | Black Light Syndrome | |
| 2000 | Situation Dangerous | |
| 1998 | ProjeKct One | Live at the Jazz Café |
| 1999 | ProjeKct Four | West Coast Live |
| 2007 | Liquid Trio Experiment | Spontaneous Combustion |
| 1998 | Liquid Tension Experiment | Liquid Tension Experiment |
| 1999 | Liquid Tension Experiment 2 | |
| 2021 | Liquid Tension Experiment 3 | |
| 2009 | Liquid Trio Experiment 2 | |
| Liquid Tension Experiment | Liquid Tension Experiment Live 2008 – Limited Edition Boxset | |
| Liquid Tension Experiment Live in NYC | ||
| Liquid Tension Experiment Live in LA | ||
| 1998 | Bruford Levin Upper Extremities | Bruford Levin Upper Extremities |
| 2000 | B.L.U.E. Nights | |
| 2008 | Steven Wilson | Insurgentes (Kscope) on tracks 5 and 6 |
| 2011 | Grace for Drowning (Kscope) | |
| 2009 | Stick Men | Stick Men A |
| 2010 | Soup | |
| 2011 | Absalom(EP) | |
| Live In Montevideo 2011 | ||
| Live In Buenos Aires 2011 | ||
| 2012 | Open | |
| 2013 | Deep | |
| 2014 | Power Play | |
| Unleashed: Live Improvs 2013 | ||
| Supercollider: An Anthology 2010–2014 | ||
| 2015 | Midori: Live In Tokyo (Featuring David Cross) | |
| 2016 | Prog Noir | |
| 2017 | Roppongi – Live In Tokyo 2017 (Featuring Mel Collins) | |
| KONNEKTED | ||
| 2011 | Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins (with Levin and Harrison) | A King Crimson ProjeKct A Scarcity of Miracles |
| 2011 | Tony Levin, David Torn, Alan White | Levin Torn White |
| 2013 | Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, Jordan Rudess | Levin Minnemann Rudess |
| 2015 | Anthony Curtis and Tony Levin | Book of the Key |
| 2019 | Phil Keaggy, Jerry Marotta, and Levin | The Bucket List |
| 1972 | Chuck Mangione Quartet | Alive! |
As a session musician (partial list)
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