Howard Levy

I Speak Music: Songs and Stories of a Century with Howard Levy and Chris Siebold Two-time Grammy Award-winner Howard Levy returns to “Saturday Night Lights” to help celebrate the Baker Center centennial with a program that takes its theme from Howard’s recently published memoir, “I Speak Music.” Howard teams up for this performance with his frequent collaborator, guitarist Chris Siebold. Expect an evening filled with songs and stories from a century of music. Howard Levy is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, recording artist, bandleader, teacher, author, and producer. In 1970 at the age of 19, he discovered how to play the diatonic harmonica as a fully chromatic instrument by developing techniques on it that had never existed before. This enabled Howard to take the harmonica out of its usual role as a folk and blues instrument, and into the worlds of jazz, classical, Middle Eastern music, and more. At home in many musical styles, the two-time Grammy Award-winner (Pop Music Performance and Instrumental Composition with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones) is a favorite with audiences worldwide and a recording artist sought after by Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Styx, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, and many others. Howard has appeared on hundreds of albums and several movie soundtracks, most prominently on A Family Thing with Robert Duval and James Earl Jones. His solo CD Alone and Together (Balkan Samba Records) and his trio CD Tonight and Tomorrow (Chicago Sessions) both received 4-star reviews in DownBeat. Howard also released a classical CD featuring his Concerto for Diatonic Harmonica and Orchestra – the first true concerto composed for diatonic harmonica. Guitarist Chris Siebold has been the house guitarist on A Prairie Home Companion for years. Chris is a member of internationally renowned fusion band Kick the Cat, and has played with many notable musicians around the world. He brings intensity, soul and his incredible technique to any style of music. The duo has performed to great acclaim in the US, Europe and South America. Howard Levy’s virtuosic harmonica and piano playing, Chris Siebold’s masterful resonator guitar work (and soulful singing on a few numbers) – that’s all you need for a spirited evening of jazz, blues, pop, classical and original compositions that transcend genre or category. Their album, ART + ADRENALINE contains original compositions by Howard and Chris, and one by Bach. The music covers the full range of styles that they play live – Jazz, Blues, Brazilian, Classical, World Music, and more.