HARTFORD COURANT

PETE LEVIN

FEB. 22

By OWEN McNALLY

SPECIAL TO THE COURANT

Pete Levin, a pioneering maven of the Moog Synthesizer and keyboardist/arranger of choice for countless pop and jazz luminaries, is returning to his first great musical passion, the classic Hammond B-3 organ.

Touring on behalf of his new album, "Deacon Blues" (Motema Music)-a celebration of his Hammond organ roots--Levin performs March 2 at 8 p.m. at Szechuan Tokyo, the jazz-oriented West Hartford restaurant.

Levin will be joined in his Hammond homage by the noted guitarist Joe Beck, drummer Harvey Sorgen and percussionist Ernie Colon.

A musical chameleon, Levin has recorded and performed with a dizzying array of groups and stylists, including: Annie Lennox, Paul Simon, Carla Bley, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Vanessa Williams, Gregory Hines, Aztec Two Step and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

As a synthesizer specialist, noted for his ability to create a world of weirdly wonderful psychedelic sounds and dreamy, abstract tonal colorations and figurations, he was famously associated with the great Gil Evans for 15 years and with the legendary Jimmy Giuffre for eight years.

"Deacon Blues" is not only a happy reflection of Levin's lifetime love for swinging organ grooves, but also a showcase for his eclectic taste that pays no attention to the boundaries that supposedly set apart one pop genre from another.

Levin has been one of New York's top synthesizer players for more than 30 years, and earned a very good living at being in on the electronic revolution early on as a Moog maestro.

Nonetheless, he feels compelled today to come full circle with this new project, his labor of love tribute to his first musical sweetheart, the Hammond B-3.

"The Hammond Organ has got such a rich history," he explains in the liner notes for "Deacon Blues." "There's really no other sound quite like it. Even the best synth simulations fall short," he says.

"You crank up that tone wheel motor (on the B-3), you hit a note and it sings to you and immediately you know it's the real deal. It's like the soul of every organ player is being breathed out from the instrument every time you play it," he says.