Biography
Stan Levey anchored the ensemble fronted by Dizzy Gillespie, which influential jazz critic Leonard Feather labeled "the first genuine all-bebop group to play on 52nd Street," thereby establishing the form and tone of jazz in the modern era. Born April 5, 1926, in Philadelphia to a father who sold automobiles and promoted boxing, the self-taught prodigy walked into a local club where Gillespie headlined and persuaded the trumpeter to let him play drums. Gillespie, struck by the teenager’s forceful yet refined style, offered him a full-time position in the band; Levey immediately left high school, performing in nightclubs and washing cars on his father’s lot during daylight hours.
Other jazz musicians criticized Gillespie for choosing a white, Jewish 16-year-old to anchor the group, to which Gillespie replied, “Show me a better Black drummer and I’ll hire him.” When Gillespie moved to New York City, he urged Levey to relocate as well. In New York the drummer joined a small band led by Coleman Hawkins that included Thelonious Monk, recorded his first session behind Art Tatum, supported Ben Webster, and substituted for Dave Tough with Woody Herman’s First Herd. Between 1943 and 1949 Levey also boxed professionally, appearing at Madison Square Garden and sharing a card with Joe Louis.
In 1945 Levey performed with the Charlie Parker Quintet; later that year, when Gillespie and Parker formed a new group, they recruited him on drums, with Al Haig on bass and Curly Russell on piano—the unit widely regarded as the first and most innovative bebop lineup. During its run Gillespie composed standards including “A Night in Tunisia,” “Manteca,” and “Groovin’ High.” The quintet disbanded after a lengthy engagement at Billy Berg’s in Los Angeles; unable to locate Parker before the return flight to New York, the remaining members departed without him, after which the saxophonist set fire to his hotel room and was committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Following extensive touring with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic in the late 1940s, Levey returned to Philadelphia in 1951 and formed a quartet with tenorist Richie Kamuca, pianist Red Garland, and bassist Nelson Boyd that both headlined its own engagements and accompanied visiting vocalists. When the Stan Kenton Orchestra reached Philadelphia in 1952, Kenton heard the group and hired Levey and Kamuca on the spot. Reinforced by Zoot Sims and Lee Konitz, this edition of the Kenton band became the orchestra’s strongest, touring Europe the next year to widespread praise.
Kenton disbanded the group right after a 1954 Los Angeles appearance, and Levey stayed on the West Coast, beginning a five-year association with Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars that relieved drummer Max Roach. Levey’s drumming exerted considerable influence on the emerging West Coast jazz style, imparting its crisp, fluent rhythms. He also expanded his studio work, ultimately appearing on more than 2,000 recordings that supported vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbra Streisand, while contributing to the soundtracks of over 300 films and numerous television productions. Despite his heavy schedule of sessions and concerts, Levey pursued photography as a parallel profession, shooting numerous record covers.
Upon retiring from music in 1973 he devoted himself entirely to photography, accepting assignments from major advertising agencies that ranged from fashion spreads to industrial images. His photographs continued to appear on LP jackets, frequently those of musicians with whom he had once performed. He never returned to professional performance, stating that the music business had changed and that he did not miss it. A few months after the DVD release of the documentary Stan Levey: The Original Original, he died in Van Nuys, California, on April 20, 2005, at the age of 79.
Other jazz musicians criticized Gillespie for choosing a white, Jewish 16-year-old to anchor the group, to which Gillespie replied, “Show me a better Black drummer and I’ll hire him.” When Gillespie moved to New York City, he urged Levey to relocate as well. In New York the drummer joined a small band led by Coleman Hawkins that included Thelonious Monk, recorded his first session behind Art Tatum, supported Ben Webster, and substituted for Dave Tough with Woody Herman’s First Herd. Between 1943 and 1949 Levey also boxed professionally, appearing at Madison Square Garden and sharing a card with Joe Louis.
In 1945 Levey performed with the Charlie Parker Quintet; later that year, when Gillespie and Parker formed a new group, they recruited him on drums, with Al Haig on bass and Curly Russell on piano—the unit widely regarded as the first and most innovative bebop lineup. During its run Gillespie composed standards including “A Night in Tunisia,” “Manteca,” and “Groovin’ High.” The quintet disbanded after a lengthy engagement at Billy Berg’s in Los Angeles; unable to locate Parker before the return flight to New York, the remaining members departed without him, after which the saxophonist set fire to his hotel room and was committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Following extensive touring with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic in the late 1940s, Levey returned to Philadelphia in 1951 and formed a quartet with tenorist Richie Kamuca, pianist Red Garland, and bassist Nelson Boyd that both headlined its own engagements and accompanied visiting vocalists. When the Stan Kenton Orchestra reached Philadelphia in 1952, Kenton heard the group and hired Levey and Kamuca on the spot. Reinforced by Zoot Sims and Lee Konitz, this edition of the Kenton band became the orchestra’s strongest, touring Europe the next year to widespread praise.
Kenton disbanded the group right after a 1954 Los Angeles appearance, and Levey stayed on the West Coast, beginning a five-year association with Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars that relieved drummer Max Roach. Levey’s drumming exerted considerable influence on the emerging West Coast jazz style, imparting its crisp, fluent rhythms. He also expanded his studio work, ultimately appearing on more than 2,000 recordings that supported vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbra Streisand, while contributing to the soundtracks of over 300 films and numerous television productions. Despite his heavy schedule of sessions and concerts, Levey pursued photography as a parallel profession, shooting numerous record covers.
Upon retiring from music in 1973 he devoted himself entirely to photography, accepting assignments from major advertising agencies that ranged from fashion spreads to industrial images. His photographs continued to appear on LP jackets, frequently those of musicians with whom he had once performed. He never returned to professional performance, stating that the music business had changed and that he did not miss it. A few months after the DVD release of the documentary Stan Levey: The Original Original, he died in Van Nuys, California, on April 20, 2005, at the age of 79.
Albums
Singles
