Rock music bass players are a lot like baseball umpires: the best ones are those that you never notice while they are going about their duties. The lack of shouting matches with a hot-tempered manager means that the correct on-field calls are being made by the umpire. Likewise, an anonymous bassist is a sign of a competent musician that dares not steal the spotlight from the lead guitarist. The result is a lack of recognized superstars for these denizens of the four-string axe.
Tony Levin is the exception to that rule. The Woodstock resident, best known for his stints with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel and for being one of the most in-demand studio musicians in the history of rock and roll, has carved out the unique distinction as being the world's most high-profile practicioner of this traditionally overlooked field of performing art.
After attending the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and playing in the Rochester Philharmonic, Levin met drummer Steve Gadd, who introduced him to playing a higher level of jazz and rock. He traded in his Ampeg baby bass for an old (at that time) Fender Precision bass, which was his only instrument for many years.
In 1970, Levin moved to New York City and joined a band with Don Preston of The Mothers of Invention. Soon after, he began working as a session musician and through the 1970's he played bass on many albums. In the late '70s wanting to do more live playing, Levin joined Peter Gabriel's band, who he had met through producer Bob Ezrin while recording Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare and Lou Reed's Berlin. Tony has played with Gabriel, both on the road and in the studio, ever since.
It was in these early years with Gabriel that Levin developed his playing of the Chapman Stick. The song Big Time, from Gabriel's So album, inspired the development of Funk Fingers, which are chopped off drumsticks used to hammer on the bass strings. Levin credits Gabriel with the idea.
On Gabriel's first album, Tony met Robert Fripp and in 1980, after having played on Fripp's solo album Exposure, he became a member of the '80s incarnation of progressive rock icons King Crimson.His resume of studio work is astonishing, having played on some of the most popular albums of the last twenty years as well as on some that are unknown to all but the most tuned-in. Credit include working with such diverse talents as Joan Armatrading, David Bowie, Al Dimeola, Peter Frampton, Gov't Mule, Pink Floyd, and Sarah Mclaughlan and many dozens of others.
His behind the scenes efforts in the recording of John Lennon' s Double Fantasy are recorded for the ages in an audio clip that Levin freely shares with visitors to his website. On it, the ex-Beatle is heard walking Levin and others through the rough cut of the album's signature track (Just Like) Starting Over.
The urge to perform on the live stage afflicts most great musicians, and the road has been beckoning Levin as of late. To satisfy that craving, he has been hopping planes to hook up with The California Guitar Trio for a string of western gigs as well as making some guest appearances with The Jim Weider Band in the northeast. Those select dates will include that band's upcoming New Year's Eve show at Albany's newly refurbished Washington Avenue Armory in a dual-headline billing with Pink Floyd tribute band, The Machine.
Weider, former guitarist of legendary The Band, was last seen here in the Capital Region at April's Tech Valley Times "Y2 Anniversary" in Troy. His all-star ensemble is currently supporting his critically acclaimed Project Percolator release, which can best be described as fusion rock that picks up where Jeff Beck left off during his Wired / Blow By Blow period of the mid-70's.
Tickets for the 8:00PM New Year's Eve (Dec 31, 2005) show are $10 in advance / $15 at the door and available online at www.TechValleyConcerts.com and at The Armory box office. The show is all-ages. Children under 12 enter free (no ticket required). There are no service fees for tickets purchased online before Dec 24.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
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