John Levy (musician)

John O. Levy ( born April 11, 1912 in New Orleans, † January 20, 2012 in Altadena, Los Angeles County), was an American jazz bassist. From 1951 he worked as a manager for musicians and the first African-American owner of an artists' agency for jazz and pop musicians.

Life and work

Levy grew up in Chicago and studied violin at the age of eight; the age of fifteen, he joined the piano. At age 17, he opted for the double bass. In the next few years he worked with Earl Hines, Tiny Parham and Red Saunders, before a member of the trio of Stuff Smith in 1943. In 1944 he then moved to New York where he played with Smith in the Onyx Club and jazz greats such as Ben Webster, Erroll Garner, Milt Jackson or Billie Holiday accompanied ( 1948 concert at Carnegie Hall ) and as well as with Lennie Tristano and with Rex Stewart Eddie Condon recorded. In 1948 he was the bassist in the George Shearing Quartet and at the same time the Road Manager. In 1951 he decided to use these experiences a business and founded the Artists Agency Levy Inc., which he directed and worked in jazz and pop music. In addition, he also oversaw Shearing and Others Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Dakota Staton, Betty Carter, Randy Crawford, Roberta Flack, Sarah Vaughan, Dianne Reeves, Joe Williams, Shirley Horn, Eddie Harris, Les McCann, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Yusef Lateef and Ramsey Lewis. In particular, he was responsible for the systematic exploitation of their publication rights. In addition, he also organized concerts and was a record producer.

In 1997 he was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame. In 2006 he received the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship.