Coming

in May '08

Electronic
Press Kit

Updated Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Pete's Live Schedule

Pete's Gig Archive

"Aside from my family, playing creative music
  is my only reason for being on this earth."
  ~ Arnie Lawrence

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I appreciate that.  Thanks for looking in.       

Pete Levin Band on YouTube         A video collage taken at the Knitting Factory in New York City ... Pete-organ, Joe Beck-guitar, Harvey Sorgen-drums, Ernie Colon-congas.  The sound isn't great, but the energy level is phenomenal.  Take a look

Coming in May ...

Shameless Merchandising:

The new CD will be out very soon.  "CERTIFIED ORGANIC" ... again, in organ trio format with guests.  Harvey Sorgen is on drums and different guitarists.  I'm recording at Jerry Marotta's Woodstock studio, "Jersville" and at my own studio, which I haven't yet bothered to name.  ("Petesville"?)  Here's a few studio shots.  More coming ...

Mike DeMicco		John Cariddi
Roman Klun mics drums at Jersville		Harvey Sorgen
Ernie Colon	Joe Beck		Jesse Gress

Wasting time on line:

           1000 CLEANHEADS!!
My gallery collection of musicians who shave their heads - takeitfromthehead.com  just hit 1000 Cleanheads!  All that talent and beauty in one place ... scary!  Click the image.  (With all those photos, the home page takes 3-4 minutes to download.  Please be patient.)

 Uncle Funk Scrapbook
Joe Beesmer's Uncle Funk doesn't perform often, but it's one of my favorite Woodstock gigs.  Personnel varies depending on who's in town.  This Ed Ajaj photo from a past gig at Keegan Ales in Kingston included Jesse Gress (Tod Rundgren), Jerry Marotta (Hall & Oates), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) and me.  Hanging with us later on stage were Larry Fast (Synergy) and Sid McGinnis (David Letterman Show); it's that kind of scene.  Over the last few years I've amassed a bunch of photos from U.F. gigs, and have brought them together on a new Uncle Funk Scrapbook Page. 

Earlier this year I laid down some organ and piano tracks for singer/songwriter Michael Veitch.  I thought at the time that this was going to be a really nice album ... and it is!  "Painted Heart" has just been released.  There's a lot of info about it in Michael's website.

11/03/07  All-Star Blues Jam sponsored by the Westchester Arts.  Hosted by vocalist Nikki Armstrong, the "house" rhythm section was guitarist Doug Monroe, bassist Kip Sophos, drummer Harvey Sorgen, and me on piano.

Photos by Michael Wartell

10/31/07  Halloween!  Played an afternoon concert in Kingston, NY at the Golden Hill nursing home with jazz vocalist/violinst Betty MacDonald and my brother Tony.  Packed house - most folks in costume.  We had a ball!

Tony, Pete, Betty. (Tony & Pete with hair!  Betty with ... a thing.)

Special guests:  Mom, Mom's friend Betty, & Tony's mother in law Phyllis

Partying down!  The lady in the photo just turned 100 last week.  Wow!

10/11/07  Caffe Dolce in Suffern, NY - an informal pickup band that rocked the joint.  Based on an Jazz organ trio format I've done many times with Don Gardner and John Cariddi, this time it was all Blues and R&B, fronted by a terrific vocalist, Mary Taylor.

Photos: Pahaka September

9/27  The Emerson - Woodstock, NY.   Tearin' it up in our back yard - organ trio with Mike DeMicco & Harvey Sorgen.

9/2  Alexandria Bay, NY   Literally a stone's throw from Canada, on the St. Lawrence River, I played the "Blues In The Bay" festival with one of my favorite blues singer/guitarists, Kal David, along with vocalist Lori Bono and drummer Mike Nappi.  This little tourist town turns into a virtual Mardi Gras every Labor Day weekend, with this great 3-day Blues fest in the middle of it.

8/20  Recorded some piano tracks for singer/songwriter Amy Rogell's new album "Miles of Smiles" with engineer/producer Steve Larsen at Hi Top Studio in Stamford, CT.   Beautiful mural in back of us.

Shlep the Hammond & play the Blues department:

Saturday 7/21    Heading out for a 2-day mini-tour with Blues Guitarist Kal David - Black Eyed Sally's in Hartford, CT, then down to Atlanta, Georgia for the DeKalb Blues Festival.  Other than my loving the way Kal plays (and sings) and that I always look forward to the times I get to play with him.

The show at Sally's was packed with an enthusiastic crowd, many of the being folks long-standing fans from Kal's band "The Fabulous Rhinestones."  We rocked the joint! Then, back to band-on-the-road reality.  Loaded up after the show - about 2:30am - we headed out for a 2-hour drive to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY for a 6am flight to Atlanta for our next gig.  Zero sleep.  Why do we do it?  Beats me!

6/28/07  Pete Levin Band at The Langston Hughes House, New York, NY - a JVC Jazz Festival special event.   This was an up close & personal gig in the former townhouse residence of Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes, performing where the writer turned out some of his most celebrated work.

Speaking of celebration, I did the gig on my new Nord C-1 organ, running through my vintage 122 Leslie.  Not only is it a fantastic-sounding axe, but at 33 pounds it weighs 1/7th as much as my chopped Hammond B-3.  I'm happy, and my back is happy!  Nord has me on their website as a new artist.

Ernie Colon, Pete, Harvey Sorgen, Mike DeMicco

8/20/06  A quick memory of the Tony Levin Band's swing through Europe this past spring; Francesco Grieco sent me this photo, taken after our last gig in Hamburg.  Yes, we were as tired as we look!  Forgetting the part where our hotel lost our reservation and we had no rooms, this was a great gig.  Click the photo to go to the gallery page.