Every musician is faced with a moment, or, if they’re lucky, moments, that can change the trajectory of their entire career.
For full-scale multi-hyphenate musician (but perhaps best known as a bass wielder) Tony Levin, one decision had a real, long-term impact.
“I harken back to 1976 in July when I was called to play on an album in Toronto with Peter Gabriel, whom I didn’t know, or know of,” he tells Bass Player. “I hadn’t even heard of Genesis!
“One of the guitar players was Robert Fripp, so I met the two of them that day. Now, there’s a craft to studio work. I loved doing it, and I’d just fallen into it. I’d started playing on rock albums, like Lou Reed's and Alice Cooper’s, and then Peter gave me the choice to go on the road with him, or I could continue to be a New York studio player.”
Levin chose the touring life, or, as he puts it, “I chose to be musically kicked in the butt.”
That fateful day led to his contribution to Fripp's solo album, Exposure. A few years later, precisely in 1980, he was asked to join King Crimson, “where business as usual is not even considered. It’s out of the question. We wanted to truly be progressive”.
It all started from a simple invitation. “Robert Fripp asked me to get together with some guys he knew and think about forming a band,” Levin recalls. “I went to Downtown New York, and in the studio were Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, and Robert Fripp.
“I hadn’t even heard the music of Bill and Adrian, but I knew Robert’s playing… And I’d also played on the road with him with Peter Gabriel. I vividly remember the first few minutes of them playing, and my jaw dropped.”
He continues, “Adrian was a completely unique guitar player, Bill was the same on drums, and then there’s Robert Fripp, who, obviously, was completely unique. My thoughts while looking down at my bass and Chapman Stick were, ‘I’m not even going to touch the bass… in this band I’m going to be super-challenged to just belong in the room.’”
Levin became a key part of the 1981 to 1984 incarnation of King Crimson, holding down the low-end and occasionally wielding the Chapman Stick on Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), Three of a Perfect Pair (1984), and THRAK (1995).
He would join at several other points in the project’s lifetime, including between 1994 and 1998, 2003 and 2008, and finally, 2013 and 2021.
However, that wasn’t the end of his career with the King Crimson repertoire. In 2024, he was announced as the bassist for the Crimson touring spinoff BEAT, alongside Belew, Steve Vai, and drummers Terry Bozzio and Danny Carey.
One thing is for sure: his initial encounter with Fripp – thanks to Peter Gabriel – proved to be more than fruitful.
Bass Player's full interview with Tony Levin will be published in the coming weeks.
