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John Levy

John Levy is an NEA Jazz Master

John Levy, born April 11, 1912 in New Orleans, grew up in Chicago. When he was just a kid, a well-intentioned teacher told him to get a job at the Post Office so that he’d have a secure future. He didn’t listen to her because he imagined himself sitting behind a big desk. He didn’t know what he’d be doing at that desk, but he knew that he would be in business. He also loved music—jazz music. Years later, his love and his vision finally merged, leading him to become a personal manager in his own office with his own big desk.

It did not happen overnight. John started out as a jazz musician. He went to New York in August of 1944 to play with the Stuff Smith Trio at the Onyx Club. He was a good bass player, and had the privilege of working with many of the jazz greats including such renowned talents as Ben Webster, Errol Garner, and Milt Jackson. He also appeared with Billie Holiday at her comeback Carnegie Hall concert in 1948.

The following year, George Shearing heard him play at the famed Birdland club, and soon after John became the bassist in the original George Shearing Quintet. Touring the country with one of the hottest groups of the day, John not only played bass but also acted as Shearing's road manager. His business acumen and promotional astuteness won out; in 1951 John put down his bass to become a full-time personal manager—the first black personal manager in the pop or jazz music field. John Levy Enterprises, Inc. was open for business.

His transition from the ranks of jazz instrumentalist to his current eminence in the personal management field was a smooth one, despite the obstacles inherent in being a black businessman during that time. The rare combination of musical talent and shrewd business savvy made it possible for John to discover new talent and develop it to its maximum potential without the usual precarious trial and error struggle experienced by most artists.

By the 1960s, John’s client roster not only included George Shearing, but also Dakota Staton, Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Joe Williams, Shirley Horn, Ramsey Lewis, and others. Most weeks, you could find one or more of John's clients listed in the top ten of Billboard magazine's pop music charts. Back then, “jazz” was the popular music.

Some of the most successful jazz luminaries in the music world testify to the exceptional success of his all-encompassing methods. It was John Levy who first encouraged musicians to retain the publishing rights to their own compositions and set up publishing companies for his clients. In addition to his varied experiences in personal management, John often found himself in the role of both concert promoter and record producer.

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Interview

John Levy: Nonagenarian Talks Music and Management

Read "John Levy: Nonagenarian Talks Music and Management" reviewed by Matt Merewitz


Ever heard of Nancy Wilson? How about George Shearing, Dakota Staton, Ahmad Jamal, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery? What do these great artists all have in common? They were all managed by John Levy.Who is John Levy, you ask? Born in New Orleans in 1911, Levy grew up in Chicago taking in some of the finest music ever to grace the ears of America. He was raised on big band, jazz, blues, and anything else he heard on the ...

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Obituary

MCG Jazz Remembers John Levy, Our Friend

MCG Jazz Remembers John Levy, Our Friend

Source: Michael Ricci

John Levy, manager to countless jazz luminaries, dies at age 99. John Levy, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and renowned personal manager for many jazz greats, died on January 20th, less than three months shy of his 100th birthday. His wife, Devra Hall Levy said he was sleeping peacefully in her arms at home in Altadena when his heart finally gave out. An induction into the International Jazz Hall of Fame (1997) and a Lifetime Achievement Award ...

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Obituary

John Levy (1912-2012)

John Levy (1912-2012)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

John Levy, a jazz bassist and original member of the Stuff Smith Trio and George Shearing Quintet whose deal-making skills, insider's knowledge and warm personality enabled him to become jazz and pop's first successful black personal manager, died on January 20. He was 99. Starting in the early 1950s, John managed George Shearing not just as an agent but a personal confidant. By later in the decade, John's client roster included Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Dakota Staton, Ramsey Lewis, Herbie Hancock, ...

54

Obituary

John Levy, 1912-2012

John Levy, 1912-2012

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Word came this morning from Devra Hall Levy that her husband John, a major advocate for and representative of jazz musicians, is gone. Levy died in his sleep on Friday at home in Altadena, California. He was 99. Ahmad Jamal recently described Levy as “one of the foremost supportive bassists" of the postwar period. In that role, beginning as a teenager, Levy worked with Ray Nance, Earl Hines, Stuff Smith, Ben Webster and Lennie Tristano, among dozens of other prominent ...

67

Interview

John Levy on Toni Harper

John Levy on Toni Harper

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Last week, singer Toni Harper reflected on the albums she recorded with Oscar Peterson in 1956 and Marty Paich in 1959 and 1960. In 1963 she traveled to Japan with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. John Levy [pictured], Adderley's personal manager at the time, wrote me an email last week about that tour: “Cannonball and his group were contracted to do their first tour of Japan's major cities in 1963. When the Japanese promoters called me to complete the details, they ...

79

Interview

Interview: John Levy (Part 5)

Interview: John Levy (Part 5)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bassist John Levy spent the first half of his career as a jazz musician. Then, in 1951, he changed jobs and became a personal manager of jazz musicians. He had long yearned to be on the business side, and the surging popularity of the George Shearing Quintet gave him the opportunity. At first John represented only Shearing and the quintet. But by 1958, John had branched out and his client list included pianist Ahmad Jamal and singer Dakota Staton. [Photo ...

126

Interview

Interview: John Levy (Part 4)

Interview: John Levy (Part 4)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In May 1947, Billie Holiday was arrested in New York for drug possession. After her conviction, she was sentenced to a year and a day at a West Virginia prison. She served 10 months. Upon her release in early March 1948, Holiday returned to the New York area. Upon her arrival, Holiday learned that her manager had arranged for her to sing at Carnegie Hall in just a few weeks. Holiday protested, saying she hadn't sung a note while incarcerated. ...

77

Interview

Interview: John Levy (Part 3)

Interview: John Levy (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

When John Levy arrived in New York in 1944, the bassist couldn't believe his good fortune. As a member of the Stuff Smith Trio, John and his white bass stood out and there was plenty of work. The union-enforced recording ban had just ended, and many small labels were surfacing to capture small-group jazz. While playing the Onyx Club for 10 weeks, John quickly fit in with the many different musicians performing in clubs along 52nd Street. During this transition ...

91

Interview

Interview: John Levy (Part 2)

Interview: John Levy (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

John Levy came late to the bass after high school in the mid-1930s. A teenage Milt Hinton agreed to teach him the basics, and John worked hard over the years that followed, practicing and playing locally in Chicago. Back in the days before bebop, the bass was the backbone of small swing groups, serving as time-keeper and audible pulse. In trios and quartets, the bass had to stand out, which required the bass player to produce a strong, thumping sound. ...

62

Interview

Interview: John Levy (Part 1)

Interview: John Levy (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bassist John Levy will turn 98 years old on April 11th, but he sounds half his age on the phone, and his memory is rock solid. For those unfamiliar with the name, John played bass in the Stuff Smith Trio in 1943 and 1944 and recorded with Don Byas and Erroll Garner in 1945. John was a member of the original Lennie Tristano Trio with Billy Bauer on guitar in 1947. He also was the bassist in the original George ...

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Book / Magazine

Strollin: A Jazz Life Through John Levys Personal Lens

Strollin: A Jazz Life Through John Levys Personal Lens

Source: Davis & Associates Public Relations

Holidays are the perfect times to reminisce, and at the age of 96, with contemplation in mind, the oldest living NEA Jazz Master takes a Stroll back in time to share thoughts and images from his personal jazz journey in a new book, Strollin: A Jazz Life Through John Levy's Personal Lens by Devra Hall Levy (ISBN: 9780982071403). Images spanning more than 50 years include Levy's first trip to Japan with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1963, and an amazing ...

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