Stan Levey

“Stan Levey is without a doubt one of the greatest drummers ever and one of the founding fathers of modern music. Along with Klook, Max and Art, there was Stan Levey, who learned directly from Dizzy when they were both living in Philadelphia. As a result, Stan contributed to this beautiful art form and played on some pivotal recordings. Jazz Heavyweight is fascinating!”—Wallace Roney, Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter

“I think Jazz Heavyweight is a piece of jazz history that’s very important to document. Stan is a link. His life is an amazing story and he was a lovely man. I was totally in awe of meeting him and the legacy that he carries.”—Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones drummer

“Stan Levey was the drummer every be-bopper wanted in his rhythm section. And with good reason. Jazz Heavyweight illuminates his role as an ultimate insider and important player—musically and otherwise—during one of jazz history’s most vital eras.”—Don Heckman, International Review of Music

“Jazz Heavyweight embraces the life and times of a renaissance man in a topsy turvy world, rich with personalities and celebrities. Having lived through some of this crazy world with Stan and my Dad, this biography really hit home. A must read.”—Frank Marshall, motion picture director and producer

“It has been my privilege to have known and worked with Stan Levey. Stan was one of the greatest drummers of our time. While reading this book I was reminded of the many facets of Stan and it invoked several memories of our years working together in the early 1960s with Dizzy Gillespie. He truly had a strong sense of musicality and most importantly soul, which was evident in each and every performance.”—Lalo Schifrin, Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer

“Stan Levey was a superb, yet underrated drummer on both the New York bebop scene and the West Coast milieu. Frank Hayde’s engaging biography shines a welcome light on this remarkable percussionist and delivers choice stories, a great many in Levey’s own voice, lending a deep credibility to this book.”—Zan Stewart, ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award recipient

“Hayde depicts clearly and vividly what it took for a high school dropout, son of a crooked Philadelphia fight promoter and an alcoholic mother, to make a mark in jazz modernism. . . . Jazz Heavyweight sheds light on the era during which jazz went from being America’s popular sound to its art music to the foundation of commercial pop.”—Downbeat Magazine

“This is a book about one of the most exciting times in the history of jazz, when everyone in the country was trying to find his or her own way. A time of guts, glory, and turmoil of which Stan Levey was a prime representative. . . . One of the finest jazz biographies in recent years.”—AllAboutJazz.com

“Stan Levey is one of the most benign and omnipresent figures in jazz history, and one of the least recognized. Despite a career in which he made formidable contributions to nearly every jazz generation from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s, the adjective ‘underrated’ clings to his name like ivy on a wall. Yet he was by no means underappreciated by those who knew his work. . . . Stan’s musical accomplishments were diverse: he was the first great drummer of the bebop era, the anchor of many fiercely competitive and innovative bands and orchestras, a pacesetter for trios, quintets, and quartets, and a nurturer of talent whose unselfish generosity was rewarded by hundreds of those he met over his lifetime.”—San Diego County News

“The best biography of a jazz musician in quite a while. . . . The best kind of jazz reading is a book that provides plenty of information you didn’t previously have but also makes you reassess things you did know. Stan Levey: Jazz Heavyweight is such a book.”—JazzEtc.com

“One of the most influential and least-known percussionists in the history of jazz.”—BroadStreetReview.com

“The Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie era of modern jazz that Stan is associated with has been referred to as a time ‘when giants walked the earth.’ If so, both physically and creatively, then Stan Levey was a Giant among giants.”—Steven Cerra, Jazz Profiles