Howard Levy performing during both Services on Sunday, November 13

The Choir will be off on Sunday, November 13 but UCE congregants will have a treat with Howard Levy, Evanston and national famous harmonica/piano performer providing our music.

Howard Levy is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, recording artist, bandleader, teacher, producer, and Chicago area resident. In 1970 at the age of 19, he discovered how to play the diatonic harmonica as a fully chromatic instrument. This opened new possibilities for an instrument that had been limited to playing Folk and Blues.

Equally at home in Jazz, Classical, Rock, Folk, Latin, and World Music, the two- time Grammy Award Winner is a favorite with audiences worldwide and a recording artist sought after by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Styx, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, and many more. Howard has appeared on hundreds of CDs and played on several movie soundtracks. He is well known for his work with Bela Fleck and The Flecktones. Howard’s other prominent collaborations include Trio Globo (with Glen Velez and Eugene Friesen), oud player/composer Rabih Abou Khalil, guitarist Chris Siebold, and The Riessler/Levy/Matinier Trio.

Howard’s recordings on his label, Balkan Samba Records, include Chévere de Chicago’s Secret Dream and Time Capsules with Acoustic Express. His solo CD Alone and Together on Balkan Samba and the trio CD Tonight and Tomorrow on Chicago Sessions both received 4-star reviews in DownBeat in 2010.

In 2011 Howard released a classical CD featuring his “Concerto for Diatonic Harmonica and Orchestra,” and recorded a reunion CD, Rocket Science, with Bela Fleck and The Flecktones. He won a Best Instrumental Composition Grammy Award for co- writing “Life in Eleven” on this CD.

The most recent Balkan Samba CD’s are From Matzah to Menorah, music for Passover and Hanukah with Cantor Alberto Mizrahi and Trio Globo, and First Takes, a CD of free Jazz improvisations with bassist Larry Gray and Howard’s son, drummer Miles Levy. And a brand new release, “Tango and Jazz”, with performances of Piazzolla tangos and Howard’s original jazz compositions.

Howard also has an online harmonica school with hundreds of members, www.howardharmonica.com. His main website is www.levyland.com.