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Michael Levy

When Michael Levy was tall enough to reach the keys of his sister's Baldwin Acrosonic, he played his first notes. They were improvised... and original. This first expression of what was to come could only be defined as noise by most people, except, of course, Mike's mom, who interpreted it as "potential". The fact that Mike could not even see the keys at that point had no bearing on his mother's insight, an insight only a mother could have. This native state, which might have led immediately to an improvisitory epiphany if left to itself, was marred by the introduction of two extraordinary musical compositions about a year later. "Chopsticks" and "Heart And Soul" became the musical nexus by which the young artist touched the universal longing for musical consciousness (in the West at least. Although "Chopsticks" seems to be of Asian origin, extensive research has shown it to have been composed by a Benedictine monk in the 1920's, playing on a keyboard that was having the sharps relaquered.).

Observing his remarkable progress, his mother engaged a local piano teacher to nurture Mike's obvious gifts at age nine. Mr. Lisanti was a nice man from Italy who told Mike's mom after a year of study that her son was a hopeless case and should instead try carpentry. Mike was in agreement. Hitting a key or a nail seemed pretty much the same to him at the time.

Mike's mom implored both student and teacher to try it for one more year. Both reluctantly agreed. Remarkably, at the end of that year, Mike was still playing and Mr. Lisanti, unfortunately, returned to his native Italy to die. A coincidence that does not go unnoticed at this writing.

Next on the scene was Mr. Feldman, a knob engineer from Long Island who played a hell of a "Revolutionary Etude" and had long spatulated fingers and gaunt eyes.

After four or five years of that, Mike was ready to play in a band. After countless renditions of "Chatanooga Choo-Choo" and "The Swinging Shepherd Blues" he found himself in the forefront of mundane adolescent improvisors in Queens, NY.

Upon his graduation from college and several rock bands later, Mike was writing his own material and singing in a voice that sounded like a hound from hell. He was angry. So angry, in fact, that he told his mother to sell his piano so he could spend the money on dates. At this fateful juncture, destiny whose name was "Mom" stepped in. She told Michael there were no offers (she lied) and that the piano was there if he ever wanted it again. He did.

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Michael A. Levy: From Piano to iPad

Read "Michael A. Levy: From Piano to iPad" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


It is a common perception that artists do their most innovative work when they are young and then gradually lose the spark of innovation in favor of a refinement of an already established artistic expression. There are, however, many artists who remain curious all their life and never stop being interested in the interplay between emerging technology and artistic creation. The British painter David Hockney is one such example of an artist who, late in life, discovered the possibilities of ...

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