Heat Wave

Musical mastermind ANDRES LEVIN cooks up hot sounds from around the world

The title of "Master Chef of Urban Fusion" that has been bestowed on Venezuelan born Andres Levin in the press is more than appropriate. As a producer, arranger, and songwriter, Andres has cooked up some of the hottest hits in the R&B, Soul and Latin communities. His charitable music contributions have led to an entire series of successful charity albums, and his personal projects have brought him Grammy nominations. Levin is a true renaissance man of the music world.

After spending his early years immersed in music in his father's recording studio, at the age of eight Levin took up playing guitar. Nine years later, Levin was granted a full scholarship and left his home in Caracas to study in Boston at The Berklee School of Music. He moved to New York City a year later, dividing his time between internships at top-notch New York studios and composition studies at Brooklyn College and The Juilliard School of Music.

Famed producer Nile Rodgers tapped Levin to work as an in-house arranger and Synclavier programmer, and with Rodgers at the helm, Levin collaborated as arranger, programmer and songwriter for such diverse luminaries as INXS, Diana Ross and The B-52's. In 1991, Levin opened his own his own production company called 3rd Ear Music, all the while continuing to write and produce tracks for powerhouse artists such as Tina Turner, Gladys Night, Chaka Khan, CC Peniston, David Byrne, and Mica Paris.

Having cemented a position for himself within the R&B and Soul music community, he dove back into the music of his heritage and started working with more Latin artists. His innovative sound was well received by the Latin music industry and his production work garnered numerous Grammy nominations. Levin wrote and produced highly acclaimed records for leading rock artists such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Aterciopelados, Ely Guerra, El Gran Silencio, and notable Brazilian musicians such as Caetano Veloso, Arto Lindsay, Carlinhos Brown and Marisa Monte.

Levin's work in the Latin genres led to his charitable contribution of tracks for Red Hot Organization's AIDS fundraising records Red Hot + Latin and Red Hot + Rio. Levin's tracks were so well received, that The Red Hot Organization offered him full production control of their subsequent two album projects: Red Hot + Lisbon, and the Fela Kuti tribute album Red Hot + Riot. While working on the Red Hot albums, Andres continued to produce tracks for Macy Gray, Meshell N'Degeocello, k.d. lang, D'Angelo, Baaba Maal, Kelis, Common and Dead Prez.

Using the momentum of the Red Hot records, Levin founded his own production company, Fun Machine, and formed the group Yerba Buena for which he acts as bandleader, writer and producer. The Grammy nominated group melds Afro-Cuban, Hip-hop, Afro-Beat and many more elements and has become the leading ambassadors of the modern Latin Fusion sound of New York City.

Levin's reputation as a producer recently brought Hollywood knocking, helping him to realize his aspirations to compose for film. Levin composed scores for El Cantante (the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Anthony biography of Latin Music legend Hector Lavoe) and the upcoming Lions Gate films, Borderland and Ladron que roba Ladron. Currently, Levin is again teaming up with Lopez's production company, for the film Reggaeton, while continuing to produce artists and perform with Yerba Buena. And if another project pops up, the master chef will have no problem throwing another pot on to boil.

— Karl Avanzini


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