John Levy, 99, took Jazz management to another level
No funeral service will be held
John Levy broke the mold of White management among African American Jazz musicians, and in doing so elevated the income and the status of many if not most Jazz artist.
A former bassist himself, he performed with such giants as Erroll Garner, Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday and Billy Taylor before joining the quintet of pianist George Shearing.
But Levy was drawn to the business side, and that proved to be where his genius lay.
According to an article by Nat Hentoff written for JazzTimes in September 2001, Levy “… thought of himself ‘as a good journeyman bassist,’ but not a soloist. Yet Duke Ellington asked him to join his orchestra, but John [Levy] turned him down because the money and 52nd Street, where he was working, was much too exciting to leave ….”
Hentoff continued, quoting material from Levy’s book, “Men, Women and Girl Singers: My Life as a Musician Turned Talent Manager": “During the 1950s, when John signed George Shearing to Capitol Records, John said to Nat Cole, who was doing a session with George Shearing: ‘The only Black person in this entire company is the janitor.’ By the early 1970s, John writes, ‘Arnold Larkin was the first Black man to be on the legal staff at Capitol, and he knew where the bodies were buried and how much the different artists were making. This time around we doubled the amount of Nancy Wilson’s advance.’
“In 1976, negotiating a deal for another artist with Warner Brothers Records, a lawyer John consulted about the contract told him: ‘This is the Black deal.’ As John explains: “The recording industry used two separate types of contracts—one that they offered to White artists and another that was used for Black artists. The royalty rates were usually lower, the advance was always lower and the amount of money they put in promotion was always lower in the Black contracts. Except for the Black superstars—they get a very good budget … And sadly, I don’t believe that separate Black arrangements have really changed that much.”
“Though Levy was an accomplished bassist in his own right, it was the business aspect of the music industry to which he dedicated his life,” says the Lushlife website, which is the virtual home of John Levy. “From the time he put aside his bass to handle the business affairs of the George Shearing Quintet in 1951, he learned how to guide raw talent to polished professionalism.”
Tom Reed, since 1962 a local disc jockey, writer and producer of “For Members Only TV,” had Levy on his show twice. “He was the Black talent manager of the time,” said Reed. “He stood out.
Most Black recording artists then had White agents and managers. And they still do to this day.”
John Levy Enterprises Inc. would eventually represent a pantheon of stars such as Nancy Wilson, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Joe Williams, Herbie Mann, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Randy Crawford, Freddie Hubbard, Ramsey Lewis, Abbey Lincoln and many others, including comedian Arsenio Hall.
Six years ago, Levy received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award at the NEA Jazz Masters Awards Concert in New York, the nation’s highest honor.
Levy was born in New Orleans on April 11, 1912. There were plans being made to celebrate the centennial of his birth, but those plans were thwarted as death arrived at age 99 on Jan. 20. Levy died in his sleep. He was less than three months shy of his 100th birthday.
There will be no funeral service. Levy is survived by his wife Devra Hall Levy of Altadena; his son Michael Levy and daughter Pamela McCrae, both of Youngstown, Ohio; daughters Samara Levy of San Diego, and Jole Levy of New York City; 14 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.
According to the Lushlife website, donations may be made to the “MCG Jazz John Levy Fund,” which is earmarked for the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild’s nationwide “Jazz Is Life” educational programs—mcgjazz.org
Jimmy Castor, a New York-born musician known as “The Everything Man” because of his ability to write, produce, perform and transcend music genres from Doo Wop to Hip Hop, died Jan. 17 of apparent heart failure in a Las Vegas hospital. He was 71 years old.
Castor began his music career as a Doo Wop singer in 1956. The following year he replaced Frankie Lymon in the group the Teenagers and wrote and recorded a song the group sang called “I Promise to Remember.” It would be his first million-selling single.
Rhythm & Blues pioneer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Johnny Otis—born John Veliotes—died Tuesday night in the Los Angeles area after a decade-long struggle with an undisclosed illness. He was 91.
Otis was born Dec. 28, 1921, in Vallejo, Calif. He dropped out of school to play with bands throughout the Midwest and settled in Los Angeles in 1943. He performed with Charlie Parker and Count Basie, but his main impact was in R&B.
Deyampert Dance Academy, which teaches youth ages 4 to 17 and young adults ballet, modern, Jazz, Funk and Hip Hop Jazz dance, performs the program “Wake Up” tonight, Friday and Saturday at Stage 52 at 7 p.m. each night.
Tickets are $10 for children and $15 for adults. Stage 52 is located at 5299 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles.
It may have been fate that brought the Somerville Hotel into existence just in time to house attendees to the first West Coast convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1928. The hotel was completed in June of that year. The 19th annual convention was held that same month.
The WE CAN Foundation will host the Allensworth “Scat to Rap” Family Music Festival celebrating all the genres of Black music and African rhythms, including Blues, Gospel, Jazz, BeBop, DooWop, R&B and conscious Hip Hop. The festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10, and activities will begin at 11 a.m. at the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park in Tulare County.
