Stan Levey

Stan Levey ( born April 5, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † April 19, 2005 in Van Nuys, California ) was an American jazz drummer. Levey was devoted to the Bebop in its construction, and is considered one of the few had accepted Euro-American musician. He is also as one of the most influential drummer of bebop, next to Kenny Clarke and Max Roach.

Career

In his youth Levey boxed, probably because his father was a car salesman and boxing promoter, and thought about an appropriate career after, but opted for music. This episode went from 1943 until 1949. He brought it in that time, even to a fight at Madison Square Garden and was even on a poster with Joe Louis.

At the same Levey taught himself to play the drums in and led them is his own left-handed technique. In 1942 he played in Philadelphia with Dizzy Gillespie. He went to a club where Dizzy was the main act and persuaded the trumpeter to let him on the drums. Dizzy was so impressed by Levey's game that he persuaded him to play in his band full time. So ended the Stan High School and played at night and cleaned during the day cars with his father. He later moved with Dizzy to New York City and worked there, still together with Dizzy, Charlie Parker and Oscar Pettiford. Later he played in the big band of Stan Kenton, on the album New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm he participated. With this band it went in 1954 to the West Coast, where he met Howard Rumsey and the Lighthouse All-Stars. Here he practiced then a strong influence on the West Coast jazz, but also worked in the studios.

With more than 2,000 photographs, he played with Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Erroll Garner, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Stan Getz, John Lewis, Ray Brown, Sonny Stitt, Barney Bigard, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Bud Shank, Charlie Ventura, Scott LaFaro, Victor Feldman, Art Pepper, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, June Christy, Mel Tormé and The Supremes.

Furthermore, contributed in the big bands of Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Charlie Ventura, Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Skitch Henderson and also played with " The Tonight Show Band ".

In addition, can be heard in over 300 film productions his drums. Among other things, he wrote the music for five Disney documentaries. He has collaborated in over 3,000 television productions such as: Batman, Mission: Impossible, The Munsters, The Addams Family.

In addition, he published with his own quintet several albums and played the album Drummin 'the Blues with his friend Max Roach one.

In 1973 he retired from the music business and began a second career as a commercial photographer. Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts called this retreat as "a great loss to jazz ." Stan never appeared in public again, but took photos for albums, preferably of artists with whom he had played earlier. Published in 2004, Arthur Shelby Pritz biographical documentary Stan Levey: The Original Original. Levey died on 19 (or 20 ) April 2006 to the consequences of cancer and was buried on 23 April 2005. He had three sons.