He was born in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States, After his tenure with the
Stan Kenton Orchestra he moved to the West Coast in 1954, joining
Howard Rumsey, Don Joham and the
Lighthouse All-Stars, and was a major influence in
West Coast jazz. Though "cool" jazz was common on the West Coast, Levey's crisp, melodic style continued to have more in common with bop than cool, and he inspired every group he ever played in. A right-handed person, Levey played the drums as if left-handed, orienting his drum kit as 'mirror-image' to the standard setup. Levey played on thousands of recordings, including those with musicians
Dizzy Gillespie,
Charlie Parker,
Miles Davis,
Stan Getz,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Peggy Lee,
Frank Sinatra,
Nat King Cole, He was buried at the
Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. ==Discography==