Concert Review: The Levin Brothers @ The Linda, 12/16/2023

By Rudy Lu On Dec 18, 2023

The Levin Brothers is a band that has been active since 2014. Brothers Pete and Tony Levin, who are both notable musicians with a solid national reputation, co-lead it. It was formed at that time to perform and pay tribute to “cool jazz,” the music they both grew up with and loved in their youth. Along with Jeff “Siege” Siegel, they represent the core of the band. Different lead sax, flute, and guitar players have sat in the lead chair on the band’s tours and recordings.

Musicians in that place have included:

Guitarists: Dave Spinozza, Jeff Ciampa
Saxophone: Erik Lawrence
Flutist: Ali Ryerson

All of these musicians have long resumes as studio and/or touring musicians. They all have made aural contributions of their own sound to that of the band. Other repertoire has been added to the original idea of cool jazz, it now includes original compositions in different genres as well as covers of friend’s tunes and those from the world of pop music.

The 2023 tour edition has saxophonist and flutist Ken Giuffre assuming that role, and he certainly is not the exception. His years and current playing in Smokey Robinson’s band have made his sound more soulful and mainstream, as have Nile Rogers and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Even though this was only the second stop in their brief tour of the northeast, his sound has made the music more radio-friendly. Much of their set this evening could easily be plugged into a smooth jazz/R&B playlist without sounding out of place, other than some more intricate than usual instrumentation.

The old Beatles classic from Rubber Soul was played early in the set; it was made funky with bass and drums locked into a danceable groove even though the melody was clearly discernible. A funky tenor sax completes the sound.

Jimi Hendrix’s classic “Little Wing” was given a soulful interpretation; in the absence of the soaring electric guitar versions that dominate our psyche, Kenny Giuffre’s saxophone focused on the lyrical qualities of this beautiful composition.

A minimalist nugget from the classical world, Eric Satie’s First Gymnopedie is frequently covered by the Brothers, adding balance to the set.

Both brothers played in Paul Simon’s band, so the very familiar “Scarborough Fair” was played.

The well-known Steely Dan classic “Aja” was played.. No, it wasn’t like Steely’s version with Tony Levin walking his electric bass up and down. Kenny was on tenor and gave a more soulful sound than Wayne Shorter’s playing in the original recording.

The band covered Lenny White’s 1995 composition “Wolfbane.” Lenny’s fascination with horror films served as the inspiration for this music. Pete’s improvised organ solo in the piece made a fellow concertgoer feel like Vincent Price was going to leap onto the stage. This was followed by klezmer-like soprano sax and Pete playing his keyboard as if something horrifying were climbing stairs with the rest of the band in close pursuit. Like with all horror films, there is also lots of fun!

The freshly composed Tony Levin “Brothers Take A Life” made its way onto this very loosely constructed setlist. Pete Levin’s compositions included “Give Me Some Scratch” from the band’s first album and “Out of Darkness” from the latest. Jeff Siegel’s contribution was a piece dedicated to the late Jimmy Heath. “Bells’ featured impressions of musical bells by keyboards and drums with the rest of the band.

The encore piece is Paul Winter’s composition about the myth of a man who flew close to the sky, Icarus. This playing was reverb-heavy, almost to illustrate the energy required to fly. Jeff Siegel added bird tweets from his various percussion instruments that lay on a table along the side of his kit.

It was a truly remarkable evening. Especially since Tony had just returned from touring and recording in Europe and the USA with Peter Gabriel and then a European tour with his prog rock trio Stickmen.

The road will continue for the band through the end of the week, then onto their separate projects throughout 2024.