Early life and education Anthony Frederick Levin was born on June 6, 1946, in
Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in a
Reform Jewish household in the suburb of
Brookline. He began playing double bass at 10 years old, primarily studying classical music. In high school, he learned
tuba, soloing with the concert band, and also started a
barbershop quartet. After high school, he attended the
Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, New York and played in the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Also at Eastman, he studied with drummer
Steve Gadd. He traded in his
Ampeg electric upright "Baby Bass" for a
Fender Precision Bass; in the early days his first bass amplifier was an
Ampeg Portaflex B-15. Levin's first recording was in 1968, when he and Gadd played on
Diana in the Autumn Wind,
Gap Mangione's first solo album.
1970s–1980s In 1970, Levin moved to New York City, joining a band called Aha, the Attack of the Green Slime Beast, with
Don Preston of
The Mothers of Invention. Soon after, he began working as a session musician, and through the 1970s he played bass on many albums, including
Buddy Rich's big band jazz album, ''The Roar of '74'', and
Paul Simon's
Still Crazy After All These Years in 1975. In 1971, John McLaughlin asked Levin to join his new project, the Mahavishnu Orchestra: "My original choice for bass was Tony Levin. But he told me, 'Oh man, I just took a gig with Gary Burton.'" From 1973 to 1975, Levin and Steve Gadd played in the band of veteran jazz flautist
Herbie Mann. Two of Levin's early compositions (“Daffodil” and “Music Is a Game We Play”) were featured on the 1973 Mann album
First Light. In 1976, Levin helped create the lush textures on
Andy Pratt's
Resolution album, which featured numerous notable musicians including
Arif Mardin,
Andy Newmark,
Hugh McDonald,
Luther Vandross, and Levin's frequent rhythm section partner Steve Gadd.
Allmusic.com and
Rolling Stone magazine rated this album as one of the best singer/songwriter albums of the 1970s. In 1977, Levin joined
Peter Gabriel's band. He had met Gabriel through producer
Bob Ezrin with whom Levin had recorded
Alice Cooper's
Welcome to My Nightmare and
Lou Reed's
Berlin. Levin has been Gabriel's bass player of choice ever since. On Gabriel's
first solo album, Levin played tuba as well, and directed and sang with a barbershop quartet on "Excuse Me". Levin has been the bassist on all of Gabriel's studio albums with a few exceptions (e.g.,
John Giblin's fretless bass playing on
Peter Gabriel III, some additional work by
Larry Klein and
Bill Laswell on
So). Gabriel nicknamed Levin the “Emperor of the Bottom End.” In his years with Gabriel, Levin developed two unique aspects of his playing: further advancement on the
Chapman Stick, which he would later utilize heavily in
King Crimson, and invented
funk fingers which are short
drumsticks strapped to the fingers to strike the bass strings, resulting in a very percussive effect. Levin credits Gabriel with the concept and his tech Andy Moore with actually making them workable. In 1978, Levin moved to
Woodstock, New York, to join the band L'Image, which included his old friend
Steve Gadd as well as
Mike Mainieri and
Warren Bernhardt. The band broke up after a year, though Levin decided to stay in the area: he currently resides in
Kingston, New York. This Ill-fated group would reunite much later in Levin's career. On the first day of recording Peter Gabriel's first album in late 1976, Levin met both Peter Gabriel and King Crimson guitarist/composer
Robert Fripp for the first time, and in 1978 he played on Fripp's solo album
Exposure. This would lead Levin to become a member of the 1981–1984 incarnation of
King Crimson, along with Fripp, guitarist/vocalist
Adrian Belew, and drummer
Bill Bruford. Levin recorded four studio albums as part of King Crimson:
Discipline (1981),
Beat (1982),
Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) and
THRAK (1995), all critically acclaimed. In 1980, Levin participated in the sessions for
John Lennon and
Yoko Ono's
Double Fantasy album. In 1987, Levin played the bass and Chapman Stick parts on the
Pink Floyd album
A Momentary Lapse of Reason. In 1988 Bruford asked Levin to be an "unofficial fifth member" in the
Yes-related supergroup
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, which consisted of all the members from the classic Yes lineup except bassist
Chris Squire, though Levin only performed as a session player on the group's
eponymous album. Due to illness, he was unable to play on some of the final dates of the accompanying tour, being replaced by
Jeff Berlin. Levin also played on the Yes album
Union in 1991. In 1984 Levin released
Road Photos, a collection of black and white photos taken during his travels with King Crimson, Gabriel, Simon, and others. Another book of photos focusing on King Crimson's travels in the 1980s,
The Crimson Chronicles volume 1, was released in 2004. Levin has also written a book of career anecdotes and road stories called
Beyond the Bass Clef.
1990s–2000s Levin was part of
King Crimson again from 1994 to 1997 as part of the "Double Trio" line-up of the band which consisted of Levin,
Robert Fripp,
Adrian Belew,
Trey Gunn,
Pat Mastelotto, and
Bill Bruford. Levin also took part in two of experimental King Crimson sub-groups:
ProjeKct One (1997) and
ProjeKct Four (1998). Levin played bass on "Watcher of the Skies" from
Steve Hackett's
Genesis Revisited album (1996). He was very busy in the late 1990s with his own groups
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities,
Bozzio Levin Stevens, and
Liquid Tension Experiment. In 1998, Levin and Bruford formed Bruford Levin Upper Extremities with trumpeter
Chris Botti and guitarist
David Torn; they released one studio album in 1998 and a live double album in 2000. Torn, Levin, and Bruford had worked with trumpeter
Mark Isham for Torn's album
Cloud About Mercury. Levin also continued recording albums with his own band, consisting of drummer/saxophonist/vocalist
Jerry Marotta, guitarist
Jesse Gress, synthesizer programmer/player
Larry Fast, and Levin's brother, keyboardist
Pete Levin. He also regularly played (and occasionally recorded) with the
California Guitar Trio when their schedules permitted. In 1997, Levin teamed up with
Mike Portnoy and
John Petrucci, members of
Dream Theater, as well as future
Dream Theater keyboardist
Jordan Rudess, for a project called
Liquid Tension Experiment. The combo released two albums,
Liquid Tension Experiment and
Liquid Tension Experiment 2 in 1998 and 1999 respectively, as well as playing short tours in 1998 and 2008. There have also been two CDs of material released under the name "Liquid Trio Experiment"; the first composed of studio jams from sessions without Petrucci (
Spontaneous Combustion), released for the band's tenth anniversary, and a live recording from a 2008 Chicago show where Rudess's equipment failed and the other three covered for it with a nearly hour-long improvisation (
When the Keyboard Breaks). During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the group reconvened and recorded
Liquid Tension Experiment 3. At the end of 2003 Trey Gunn left King Crimson and Levin rejoined as the bassist, although the band was only active for a handful of rehearsals at that time. In 2006, Levin released
Resonator, The first album to feature Levin as a lyricist and lead vocalist. 2007 saw the release of
Stick Man, an album of pieces recorded on the
Chapman Stick. In 2008, Levin joined King Crimson's 40th Anniversary Tour, in a lineup including Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto, and Harrison. He holds the record as King Crimson’s longest-serving bassist overall. The band released its first album
Soup in 2010. Bernier left the group shortly after the release of
Soup and was replaced by touch guitarist
Markus Reuter. This lineup has continued with a busy touring and recording schedule, with their most recent recording
Tentacles released in 2022. Levin's brother,
Pete Levin, is a New York keyboardist and writer who is known for his work with
Gil Evans. In the 1970s, Tony and Pete collaborated with Steve Gadd in the comedy band The Clams. Levin has stated that some of the Clams' material may eventually be released. Levin also played on Jean-Pierre Ferland's
Jaune album, which included hits "Le petit roi" and "Le chat du café des artistes". On September 24, 2013, Levin was officially announced as a member of the eighth incarnation of
King Crimson, alongside band founder
Robert Fripp, guitarist
Jakko Jakszyk, the returning
Mel Collins on saxophone, drummers Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison, and new member
Bill Rieflin. The group toured the United States in the autumn of 2014 and continued to tour throughout the world until 2021, including 2019 when
King Crimson celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 2024, Levin and former King Crimson member
Adrian Belew announced the creation of the supergroup
Beat, which includes guitarist
Steve Vai and drummer
Danny Carey. With the approval of
Robert Fripp, this group performs material from the early 1980s incarnation of King Crimson. In September 2024, Levin released the solo album
Bringing It Down to the Bass, featuring guest appearances with many of his former bandmates and collaborators. == Influence ==