He’s been a bona fide member of King Crimson’s court for more than three decades. Prior to securing his status as a veritable prog-rock deity, Brookline’s Tony Levin was trading licks with the likes of Chuck Mangione and Buddy Rich.
Now 68, Levin is revisiting his jazz roots with younger sibling Paul. Late last year, the Levin Brothers released their debut EP to great critical acclaim. On Thursday, March 24, the duo perform at the Iron Horse in support of that studio effort.
“The two of us have crossed musical paths many times over the last decades, having toured with Paul Simon and played in each others groups and albums,” Tony notes. “But we’ve never done a Levin Brothers album ’til now, and it’s pretty special for us. We were trained in classical music from a young age, but also loved the 1950s recordings by Oscar Pettiford and jazz French horn player Julius Watkins; and those have remained influential.”
Tix for this show are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and available at iheg.com. Doors open at 7 p.m.
In other news … while the rest of us are admiring the effects green beer can have on the digestive system the morning after and putting away our shamrocks and Blarney stone Jeff Blaney checked in with a sneak peek at his latest sonic labor of love, Don’t Look Back.
Though a current Nashville resident, Blaney was born and raised right here in New England. Here are some choice excerpts from the exchange.
Crawler: I know you have a lot of fans up this way, but could you tell us about your pilgrimage to Music City?
Jeff Blaney: I started playing guitar when I was in high school. I had a lot of music in my house because my brothers and mom were musicians. I lived in Enfield, Conn., through high school, and then went on to UConn. After that I travelled around a bit — L.A., New York. Then I came to Nashville for a recording session and fell in love with the city.
Where you recorded your new disc, Don’t Look Back. Are you “not looking back” at these places where you once lived?
Oh, no — in fact, two New Englanders wrote songs for the new disc. Another Enfielder, John Gillette, wrote “Blackberry Breakfast” for me. Ian Thomas is also from Connecticut, and he wrote “Honey I Can Count On You.” Other than that, the new EP is 100 percent acoustic, so it has a very intimate feel to it. But I did produce and engineer it, too, so it’s hard to be objective.
Happy to hear about your success in Nashville, and having “Going Right Back To My Baby” tapped for the soundtrack of the horror film Muck. That said, when are you heading back our way?
I’m just starting to plan my Northeast trip this summer. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I’m targeting late July for your neck of the woods.
Last but not least … yet another Valley transplant touches base.
Eric Holden is best known around these parts for his basswork with Jamawokee, but he’s also recorded with Josh Groban and toured with Shakira. “This spring, I’ll be touring with the BoDeans, including a show at Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre April 16,” Holden says. “I’m also producing the Willodean record and we just released a cool animated video on our website, willodean.com, you have to check out.”•
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 394-4262 or email garycarra@aol.com.
