Hank Levy

Hank Levy ( born September 27, 1927 in Baltimore as Henry J. Levy, † September 18, 2001 ) was an American composer and baritone saxophonist, who is known in the jazz scene mainly because of its songs and arrangements.

Levy went to the City College of his native town, and studied at the College of William and Mary, the Peabody Conservatory, the Catholic University of America, and Towson University, where he received his doctorate. During his military service in the late 1940s, he was on the Navy School of Music. In 1953, he was as a baritone saxophonist member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He then worked as an arranger for the band, but worked during the 1960s for Sal Salvador and Don Ellis. He was on the use of odd time signatures such as 5/4, 7/ 4, 9 /4 or 13/8 as interested as you importing unusual harmonies and timbres. His compositions are playing difficult.

Levy also wrote a series of large compositions, such as for example, be Opus for Over Extended Jazz Ensemble, which premiered in 1971 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was the founder and for a longer period the head of Jazz Studies at Towson University.