Alan Lewine

Alan Lewine is a bassist and composer currently living in the Phoenix AZ region since 2020. He lived and played in and around Boulder and Denver Colorado in the late 70s, New Mexico through the 80s, Portland OR in the early 90s, DC for about 10 years starting in 1994 and then Philly for 14 years from 2006.

Alan founded Owlsong Productions in 1982, and released the first Owlsong album, Alan Lewine Septet: Original Jazz, in 1986. Alan has performed and recorded all over the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

Primarily a jazz musician, his influences and experiences include all forms of music – he has studied and played for example medieval Sephardic and Indonesian Gamelan, delta blues and afropop, flamenco and various fusions of the above, as well as all styles of jazz from trad to avant garde, and some classical.

Alan began playing string bass in 1978. He studied piano as a child, and later minored in composition and arranging at University when in his late 20s, while playing jazz gigs to put himself through school. Primarily a self-taught bassist, Alan learned from the more experienced musicians on every instrument with whom he had the good fortune to play. The mentorship of Milt Hinton early in his career was a large boost. When he lived in Oregon in the early 90s, he had the opportunity to hang with and learn from Leroy “Walkin” Vinnegar and to work with a learn from many of the greats there. Alan has received “green room” lessons, counsel and encouragement from the likes of Ray Brown, Harvie S, Major Holley, Lynn Seaton, John Clayton and Bruce Gertz.

Alan’s first recordings were released in the mid- 1980s and have received excellent reviews.media/press/reviews page. Besides leading his own ensembles such as the Alan Lewine Xtet, the PDXtet, the Red Hot Peppers, the AfroJazz Xplosion and others, Lewine has been an in-demand sideman for touring musicians and has worked with many of the great names in jazz over the years, including Eddie Daniels, Kenny Davern, Richie Cole, Joe Henderson, Clifford Jordan, Henry Threadgill, Vinnie Golia, Anita O'Day, Sheila Jordan, Dick Berk, Mel Brown (Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, etc.), Mose Allison, Butch Miles (Basie, Brubeck, Ella, etc.), Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Roy Hargrove, Jim Pepper and Bill Mays, and old masters like Gus Johnson, Sweets Edison (Count Basie), Mickey Roker (Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins etc.), Stephane Grapelli (Django Reinhart), Carl Fontana (Tonight Show Band) and many others. Once in the '80s he played duets with the immortal Charlie Haden, an experience that made a deep and lasting impression. Lewine minored in music composition as an undergrad and has also studied traditional Ghanaian (Ewe) percussion and performed with Obo Addy and Balinese gamelan with I Nyoman Suadin, flamenco with Julián Vaquero and Victor Monge, and traditional country Delta and Piedmont blues with Johnny Never (including as bassist on the 2012 release Johnny Never and the Soular Pimps: Never Home ). He has also played occasional bluegrass and “jazzgrass” gigs (remembering his childhood WV roots) with Sam Bush, Alan Munde, Slim Richey, Wayne Shrubsall and others.

After spending 18 years working as a full-time gigging musician around the Southwest and later Northwest US, Alan “dropped out” in 1994, went to law school, and worked as a transactional, copyright and policy attorney with some of the world's most significant television, telecoms and cable companies until 2016 keeping his music everpresent but on the back-burner. He recently retired from that sideline and returned his focus to his music with multiple visits to and performances in Spain, Cuba and elsewhere, often with his wife since 2013, Spanish classical soprano Ana María Ruimonte.

During 2016 through 2018, Ana María and Alan Lewine undertook multiple successful tours of Cuba, performing in Havana including performances the Salon Lecuona of the Gran Teatro de la Habana, the Sala Teatral of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Museo de la Música, introducing Sephardic Treasures (Tesoros Sefardíes) at the Sinagoga Centro Hebreo Sefaradi in Vedado, the Auditorio of the Biblioteca Nacional “José Marti” in Havana, and in Santiago de Cuba at the Museo de la Música and Club Iris Jazz. In January 2020, Alan had the honor of being invited to present his original jazz with several performances around Havana as part of the 35th Jazz Plaza Festival Internacional de Jazz, followed by performances of Cuban classical music in Cienfuegos with Ana María, Legendary pianist Huberal Herrera and Zorimé Caturla, prinicipal flute of the National Orchestra of Cuba.

Alan’s current projects, besides producing the programs of Ana María Ruimonte, include writing arrangements for the soon to be recorded Alan Lewine Xtet: Jazzes for Lecuona, a set of originals and jazz arrangements based on the

music of Cuba’s greatest composer, Ernesto Lecuona, Sephardic Treasures, a CD from

Soprano meets Bass releases in mid-2020, his joint ensemble with Ana María including Spanish flamenco guitarist Julián Vaquero, and

Spanish flamenco and jazz percussionist Victor Monge, Israeli percussionist Shai Wetzler, jazz trumpeter Duane Eubanks, Israeli flutist Hadar Noiberg, Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez and other special guests in an exciting post-modern fusion of medieval/jazz/classical/flamenco/mid- eastern music.

Since relocating to AZ during the Covid pandemic, Alan has written more music and organized a new AZ Xtet presenting new music with a sound rooted in the 50s jazz avant garde. And is preparing to record Alan Lewine Xtet: Original Jazz 2022.

Alan’s primary instrument is a beautiful-sounding Tyrolean 3/4 bass made probably between 1860 and 1890 and refurbished by Barry Kolstein. He uses Kolstein Heritage strings, Acoustic Image amplification (when needed) and a Planet Wing pickup. His airline travel bass is an Eminence with a David Gage Realist pickup.

Awards

Over a dozen NM-MIC (New Mexico Music Industry Coalition) nominations in the late 1980s for best album (jazz), best composition (jazz), album of the year, best producer (jazz), best cover song (jazz), etc.

2017 Nominee as producer for the prize Cubadisco (Cuba’s “grammy”) based on a limited Cuban pre- release of Ana María Ruimonte: Rosas para Lecuona, produced by Alan. Rosas para Lecuona has recently been receiving regular airplay in Cuba as well as received strong starred reviews in Spanish print magazines. Sephardic Treasures was nominated for a Grammy in the “Worl Music” category. All current CDs available at www..owlsong.com

Lewine says "Sephardic Treasures reignited my creative interest in music, with its highly innovative combination of medieval Sephardic, jazz, classical, Latin American and flamenco influences. I'm jazzed to be creating new arrangements and new approaches to my instrument!"

Awards

Over a dozen NM-MIC (New Mexico Music Industry Coalition)nominations in the late 80s for best album (jazz), best composition (jazz), album of the year, best producer (jazz), best cover (jazz), etc.