Pete Levin, born December 20, 1942, is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer who grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. His first instrument as a teenager was the French horn, and he went on to study at Boston University before receiving a master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York City. He was introduced to the Hammond organ by a fellow musician in the late 1960s while serving in the army. In 1974 he got a call to play French horn with legendary jazz arranger Gil Evans, who made him a regular in the band; a year later, Pete brought a Moog synthesizer to an Evans gig, and Gil loved it — permanently transforming Pete’s role and helping steer the band toward the electronic-acoustic hybrid sound that won two Grammy awards.

Levin’s 15-year tenure with the Gil Evans Orchestra (1973–1988) was followed by eight years as part of Jimmy Giuffre’s quartet, and his jazz credentials include performances and recordings with Carla Bley, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band, Mike Mainieri, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, and Lenny White. His endeavors on the pop and rock side are no less remarkable, with contributions to recordings by Blood, Sweat & Tears, Judy Collins, Bryan Ferry, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, and Vanessa Williams. Among the first musicians to explore synthesizers in the 1970s, Pete has also done arranging and electronic music for feature films including Missing in Action, Silver Bullet, The Color of Money, and Star Trek, composed the orchestral score for the independent film Zelimo, and wrote the anthem for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit, performing it live for the U.N. General Assembly.

As a solo artist, Pete has released 18 albums, including his most recent, J.S. Bach Inventions & Sinfonias, which reimagines the work of the legendary composer through orchestrated synthesizer arrangements. In 2007, he re-emerged as a bandleader with Deacon Blues for Motema Music, embracing his roots and first love, the Hammond organ, working with iconic sidemen including Joe Beck, Danny Gottlieb, Tony Levin, and Mike DeMicco, and has since released a string of organ-trio recordings including Certified Organic, Jump!, and Möbius. Since 2014, Pete has led The Levin Brothers with his brother, bassist and Chapman Stick player Tony Levin — a jazz quartet originally formed as a tribute to the classic 1950s work of Oscar Pettiford and Julius Watkins that now also performs original music and inventive covers of tunes by Peter Gabriel, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, and Ralph Towner.