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Sublime – if I had to describe the
evening in one word that would be it. Brothers Pete and
Tony Levin, each have a storied musical history. While
you may not be familiar with their names, if you have
listened to music, you have heard them play. Pete has
worked with such diverse artists as Miles Davis, Gil
Evans, Annie Lennox, Paul Simon and Salt ‘N Pepa, the
full list is far too long to include here. Tony is best
known for his work with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and
his own band The Stickmen.
While each had taken turns playing in each others bands,
they had never worked together on their own project –
thus the Levin Brothers were born in 2014. Since each
had such a wide range of musical experience, picking a
style might have been considered the hardest part, but
they chose what they had listened to as children, bebop
jazz.
While I am not as steeped in jazz as some others here at
Nippertown, I found their songs to be quite approachable
and enjoyable to listen to during their recent return to
Schenectady’s Van Dyck. The selections had an
identifiable melody running through them while allowing
each musician a chance to demonstrate their virtuosity.
Erik Lawrence, standing between Pete and Tony, was the
closest thing to a frontman an instrumental quartet can
have. While providing the basic melody lines on tenor
sax and flute, he also provided the majority of solos
during the set. His resume includes founding member of
the Levon Helm Band as well as playing with such
luminaries as Bob Dylan.
Holding down the rhythm was Jeff “Siege” Siegel, best
known in this area as the drummer for the late Lee Shaw.
As the musicians took the stage, a complete hush came
over the audience, to which Pete quipped, “What
happened?” What happened was the anticipation of a the
wonderful music to come and the audience was not
disappointed.
The Levin Brothers’ self-titled album was heavily
represented as they opened with “Special Delivery,”
“Havana,” King Crimson’s “Matte Kudasai” and “Gimme Some
Scratch.” Tony and Pete took turns stepping to the mic
between songs to give the title, and, sometimes, a brief
story behind the songs. Fresh off their return from a
South American tour, the band was tight, as Pete’s
keyboard punctuated Lawrence’s playing perfectly during
“Gimme Some Scratch.”
Pete took off with a soaring organ solo on “Pete’s
Blues” as Siegel filled in the breaks perfectly with
quick little drum solos. Lawrence carried the melody on
flute for a light jazz arrangement of Paul Simon’s
“Scarborough Fair,” while Pete’s solo carried a hint of
“My Favorite Things” that fit in perfectly with the
arrangement. The evening wrapped up with Peter Gabriel’s
“Don’t Give Up.”
Pete and Tony are rightfully proud of their musical
history, and songs from Pete’s touring with Paul Simon
and Tony’s work with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson were
featured in the show. But I thought the highlights of
the evening were the original songs they wrote for the
album. There was a genuine love for the form of music
that shaped them as children.
There is something magical about coming back to your
childhood after such divergent paths throughout one’s
career. The joy of them as children sitting around
listening to music comes through, and it took us back to
what we loved as children as well. To borrow a word from
Pete, the Levin Brothers were simply “engroovilating” at
the Van Dyck. |
