O'Donel "Butch" Levy (September 20, 1945 – March 14, 2016) was a

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland. He was brother of session drummer Stafford Levy. Levy studied music at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music and dance music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliat ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in Baltimore. He moved to New York City and toured with

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

and

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McGriff started playing pia ...

. Levy released his debut album, '' Black Velvet'', in 1971 on Groove Merchant. This was followed by a live album '' Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail'', recorded at the Cook County Jail in Chicago in 1972. Levy performed as a member of the Jimmy McGriff quintet. Levy's second album '' Breeding of Mind'' (Groove Merchant, 1972) crossed the genres of jazz, funk, and pop. He recorded it with Charles Covington,

Chester Thompson Chester Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana (band), Santana, Genesis (band), Genesis and Phil Collins. Thompson has performed ...

, and Eric Ward, with arrangements by Manny Albam. His fourth album ''

Simba Simba is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King ''franchise. First appearing as a cub in ''The Lion King'' (1994), the character flees his homeland when his father, Mufasa, is ...

'' (1973) was arranged by Albam, produced by Sonny Lester, and recorded with Warren Bernhardt, Cecil Bridgewater, Eddie Daniels, Jon Faddis,

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. He was a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studie ...

, and

Bill Watrous William Russell Watrous III (June 8, 1939 – July 2, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his rendition of Sammy Nestico's arrangement of the Johnny Mandel ballad "A Time for Love", which he recorded on a 1993 alb ...

. His fifth album '' Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky'' (1974) drew attention because of its risqué album cover.

Discography

* '' Black Velvet'' ( Groove Merchant, 1971) * '' Breeding of Mind'' (Groove Merchant, 1972) * '' Dawn of a New Day'' (Groove Merchant, 1973) * ''

'' (Groove Merchant, 1974) * '' Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky'' (Groove Merchant, 1974) * ''

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

'' (Groove Merchant, 1976) * ''Time Has Changed'' (LRC, 1977) * ''Through a Song'' (ILM, 1982) * ''Asian Beat'' (O'Donel Levy Productions, 2004) * ''In the Name of Love'' (Room 302, 2005)

As sideman

With

* '' Black Pearl'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 1971) * ''Jimmy McGriff,

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971), ...

'' (United Artists, 1972) * '' Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail'' (Groove Merchant, 1973) * '' Giants of the Organ Come Together'' (Groove Merchant, 1973) * '' Giants of the Organ in Concert'' (Groove Merchant, 1973) With others * Ethel Ennis, ''10 Sides of Ethel Ennis'' (BASF, 1973) * Groove Holmes, '' New Groove'' (Groove Merchant, 1974) *

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

, ''See Through Spirits'' (Atlantic, 1985) *

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is poss ...

, ''Passion'' (Capitol, 1988) * Eldee Young, Ernie Watts, Isaac "Redd" Holt, Jeremy Monteiro, ''Blues for the Saxophone Club'' (Golden String, 1996)

References

External links

O'Donel Levy discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

O'Donel Levy discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

1945 births 2016 deaths African-American jazz guitarists American funk guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Peabody Institute alumni Musicians from Baltimore 21st-century American guitarists {{US-jazz-guitarist-stub