Biography
Nick Levinovsky first encountered jazz at age thirteen, much like countless others living behind the Iron Curtain, by secretly tuning a shortwave radio to Willis Conover’s Voice of America jazz programs. Although both parents earned their living as opera singers and the household anticipated a classical trajectory for his career, exposure to jazz created an immediate and lasting commitment to the American idiom. Once Soviet political conditions began easing and jazz started emerging from underground venues, Levinovsky relocated to Moscow and assembled his own trio. His earliest paid engagement took place, ironically, at the local KGB office. During that period he met and performed with visiting American jazz figures that included Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Milt Hinton, and others. He also supplied piano for a Ray Coniff session, marking the first time an American artist recorded on Soviet soil. In 1978 Levinovsky launched the ensemble Allegro, which built a strong reputation through festival appearances, Russian radio broadcasts, and eight albums. Even so, the political situation remained sufficiently restrictive that he emigrated to the United States in 1990, where he performed and wrote charts for groups such as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He met singer Kathy Jenkins in America and subsequently married her. Forming a big band in 1997, Levinovsky released his debut album, Listen Up, on his own NLO label. The sextet recording Kind of Red followed in 2000. His band also appears on the 1999 Kathy Jenkins album From This Moment On. Sphinx gathers material he recorded with Allegro during his years in Russia. In addition to his work as a jazz pianist, Levinovsky is an accomplished composer and arranger. He and his wife reside in New York, where they perform at local jazz clubs, appear at festivals, and produce cabaret and jazz shows as well as albums.
Albums
