AT AN AGE MOST MEN ARE SITTING AROUND COLLECTING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS, BASSIST TONY LEVIN, AT 78 HAS NEVER BEEN BUSIER.
RECENTLY TOURING WITH HIS BROTHER PETE AND THE LA BARBARA BROTHERS OF JOE, PAT AND JOHN IN AN APPROPRIATLY TITLED “BAND OF BROTHERS” SERIES OF GIGS, TONY HAS NOW MOVED ON TO FORM A TEAM TO GIVE TRIBUTE TO THE KING CRIMSON BAND OF THE 1980s. NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE ALBUMS DURING THAT DECADE, BEAT INCLUDES LEVIN WITH ADRIAN BELEW, DANNY CAREY AND STEVE VAI TO REMIND PEOPLE OF THE MUSICAL VISION OF CRIMSON’S CREATOR, ROBERT FRIPP.
SIMULTANEOSLY, LEVIN HAS ALSO RELEASED A SOLO ALBUM, NOT ONLY ALLOWING THE BASSIST TO TAKE A RARE SOLO ONCE IN AWHILE, BUT THE ALBUM INCLUDES HIM SETTING UP GROOVES WITH SOME OF TODAY’S GREATES DRUMMERS, INCLUDING STEVE GADD AND VINNIE COLAUITA.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CHANCE TO CHECK IN WITH TONY, AND AS EXPECTED, HE WAS RIGHT ON THE BEAT.
YOU HAVE TWO NEW PROJECTS, YOUR SOLO ALBUM AND YOUR WORK WITH BEAT
The tour is called “BEAT” and there is no album with that. It’s the King Crimson music of the 1980s
Simultaneously, on September 12, I am releasing a solo album. I haven’t done a solo album in 10-15 years.
I have a wonderful problem which keeps me from finishing it, and that I’m doing too much road work! (laughs)
I love playing live; It’s my favorite thing to do. So, that’s a very good problem to have
However, earlier this year I carved out a few months to finish the tracks that I had been working on.
I’ve got some wonderful guys to play on it, so I’m very excited about it. That album is called Bringing It Down To The Bass . It’s got a lot of music on it, fourteen tracks
I started most of the tracks with a bass riff, groove or different technique to create bass sounds.
I carefully chose which drummer to have bring them to life, so it’s got an all star cast of drummers as well as guitar players backing me up. They brought the music to life.
We’ve arranged the album to be released simultaneously with the BEAT tour, which was another project.
YOUR ALBUM HAS A FANTASTIC SONG THAT GIVES TRIBUTE TO DRUMMERS. I DON’T THINK PEOPLE APPRECIATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DRUMMER AND BASSIST. WHAT DID YOU LOOK FOR IN THE DRUMMERS YOU CHOSE FOR THIS ALBUM?
It is a very special relationship. Without it being visible to people that are watching, hopefully the bass player and drummer are locked in as the rhythm section, and are aware of what each other is doing, and ad-libbing whatever is happening on stage on every song.
Since I’ve been doing this bass thing since the earth cooled (laughs), I’ve been lucky to have a lot of close friends who are great drummers. As any bass player who reads this knows, I’m a lucky guy to play with Steve Gadd , Vinnie Calautti, Manu Katche and Mike Portnoy, it’s pretty amazing
As far as what I listen for in a drummer, that’s not really my process
If I’m playing with a drummer that I haven’t worked with before and who’s playing I don’t know, I just listen to what he plays and I lock into it.
If I can’t, then we’ve got an issue, but usually we can.
Also, these days we have a thing called a “Click Track” which complicates things. I’m very lucky; I work with very good drummers who not only play in time (meaning they don’t speed up or slow down), but they also have a very good feel for “the pocket” and “the groove”. My job is to slot into that groove.
SINCE YOU USUALLY DON’T SOLO, ARE YOU TAKING ON YOUR NEW RELEASE? WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION, OR DID IT JUST EVOLVE?
It wasn’t a conscious decision. If I’m in charge of the music, of course it’s going to be the way I want it. Yes, I do play some solos, but It is not an “unveiling of the solo me”. On about half the tracks I do play a solo
WHAT THOUGHTS WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU LISTENED BACK ON THE ALBUM?
When you make an album, you listen to it a million times. All the mixes and the masters; I’m still checking the vinyl masters. You get real familiar with it.
My favorite moment on the album, no question is when the great alto player Alex Foster comes in to play on the title track, “Bringing It Down To The Bass”. He was part of the horn section that I had brought in. Before the song I thought “ I can’t have Alex hear and not have him play a solo”. So, as the song actually ends, another bass groove comes in and I asked Alex to solo on it as it fades out.
What he played on it still gets to me; it’s my favorite point on the album. It gets me how **these players come in to help you with your album, and it’s just one or two hours of their time and they go home, but what they contribute is priceless. You cannot put a price on what he played on the end of that song. Unwritten; I just said “Go ahead, play”
I can’t even put a value on the happiness that it’s given me
THE BEAT TOUR STARTS THIS MONTH, SO CHECK WHEN LEVIN AND COMPANY WILL HIT YOUR TOWN. SEE HOW MUCH HAPPINESS THAT GIG AND LEVIN’S LATEST ALBUM WILL GIVE YOU.