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I Speak Music: Stories from My Improbable Life
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralGeneral MusicJazz
Publisher: Balkan Samba Books
Published: May 6 2026
Pages: 454
Weight: 1.67
Height: 1.13 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Two-time GRAMMY Award winner Howard Levy delivers a musical memoir that will stop you in your tracks-bold, unpredictable, and as soulful as his playing. Having spent his life moving effortlessly through classical, blues, jazz, world music, rock, and pop, Howard tells his story from the rare vantage point of a musician who never fit into one category-and never wanted to.
Across 88 richly detailed stories told with warmth, humor, and cinematic clarity, Howard traces his improbable journey from Brooklyn to Chicago and onto the world stage-encompassing a lifetime of relentless curiosity, thousands of recording sessions, and collaborations with icons like Dolly Parton, Donald Fagen, John Prine, Kenny Loggins, Jack Bruce, and many more.
In a captivating writing style, Howard captures the full sweep of his musical life:
- Adventures in Recording: Hilarious, tense, and surprising moments drawn from thousands of studio sessions-from commercial jingles and film soundtracks to albums that derailed, exploded, or suddenly turned magical.
- Strange-but-True Encounters with Legends: From an impromptu encounter with Jaco Pastorius to helping recover Mercer Ellington's stolen bag, Howard revisits the chance meetings that left a lasting mark.
- New York to Chicago: Hair-raising New York episodes and the hard-earned Chicago years-factory jobs, pit orchestras, jazz clubs, and the strange twists of fate that launched his trajectory, building a foundation for everything that followed.
- Travels, Tours, and Total Chaos: From Taipei to Damascus, and all points in between, Howard shares the unpredictable and surreal highs and lows of a touring life lived without a safety net.
- Composing a Life in Music: Fascinating stories behind the pieces he composed, the ideas that surfaced unexpectedly, and the many breakthroughs-small and large-that sparked his evolution, and continue to shape and expand his musical language.
Prepare to be entertained, inspired, and surprised by a memoir that illuminates the world of music from the inside out-and invites you to come along on the serendipitous journey of a life devoted to sound.
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