Renowned as “Miami’s most in-demand drummer,” Lee Levin says he always wanted to be a studio session musician. He has built a successful career doing exactly that, making the recording scene his playground. Based out of his home base, Miami, it is no surprise to hear Levin’s beats full of Latin flavor, infused with furious technical clarity and unparalleled precision. Those in the music industry know Levin as someone who’s not too showy or tight but just right. He sits in a song with his feel—a thing that defines him as an arhythmic powerhouse.
In 1989, Levin graduated from the Frost of School of Music at the University of Miami, and his performances didn’t go unnoticed. His first recording session was with Chayanne, one of the best-selling Latin music artists who has sold over 50 million records worldwide. Since then, Levin has played on more than 1000 recordings for a variety of artists, including Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Backstreet Boys, The BeeGees, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Clay Aiken, Christopher Cross, Christina Aquilera, Michael Bolton, Sarah Silverman, Meat Loaf, Luis Fonsi, Calle 13, Ricardo Arjona, Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias, Jon Secada, Eros Ramazzotti, Shakira, and many others.
His drumming can also be heard on award-winning TV favorites like NBC’s “Friends,” Saturday Night Live, Dateline, America’s Next Stop Model, ESPN, and NBC Sports shows, to name a few. As a writer, Levin has worked on many educational books, videos, and CDs for Alfred Publications, including one he wrote for the Ultimate Beginner Tech Start Series entitled “Drum Programming Basics.”
Earlier this year, he toured with today's biggest reggaeton artist, Bad Bunny, as his musical director. This summer, we bumped into Levin at Criteria Studios in North Miami, where he was recording with Gloria Estefan and Frost School of Music’s Dean Shelly Berg. Many drummers may recognize this as pure luck, but this GRAMMY-award winner is just that good, even though he’ll admit he felt a shot of adrenaline that got his heart thumping when he entered the recording studio to play with fellow musicians, Berg [piano/keyboards], Carlitos del Puerto [bass], and Dean Parks [guitar].
Levin is a drummer, writer, and director of mostly Latin artists. So, what attracts him to the Latin beat? Simply put, “the songs are contagious,” chuckled Levin in an exclusive interview session.
The music industry was happening in L.A. in the 90s, so what made you stay in Miami after graduating from the Frost School of Music?
Interesting question. I was going to move to Los Angeles for that very reason. Me and a couple more people from Frost auditioned simultaneously for the Chayanne tour in L.A. I ended up getting that gig, toured with Chayanne for over a year and then returned to Miami. I was preparing to move to L.A. when I got a call to do a recording session and then I was on the road. Then, I got called for another session. And it just kept coming. “Okay”, I thought, instead of moving right now, let me go ahead and get some experience. So, when I do move, I'm not just some kid that shows up in L.A. to get a gig”. The thing is, the jobs never stopped coming in. I was doing what I wanted to do—studio session work. And to me, it didn't matter what language it was. Most of it was Latin, Spanish, and music from all over, but that didn't bother me. I loved the music. The sound was contagious.
When did you first connect with Emilio and Gloria Estefan?
I met Emilio at his studio on Bird Road. He started calling me for studio sessions, like some early Shakira recordings. I also recorded for Ricky Martin and Jon Secada there.
Did you ever record with Gloria before this album?
No, that’s the wild thing! I've known Emilio and Gloria for 30 years, but this is the first time I've recorded on one of Gloria's albums, doing the entire thing. In the past, they used their band. And I was never a part of that band. I was always doing other things.
Tell us about your experience recording the “Estefan Family Christmas” album.
Shelly Berg wasn't the dean when I went to Frost School of Music. He came after, but I knew his name. Shelly would call me for a gig here and there, things he was working. When he called me for this, the timing was perfect. I had already finished my tour with Bad Bunny, which ended in April, so I was available.
What were your thoughts when Dean Berg told you about the other musicians, Carlitos del Puerto and Dean Parks? Two powerhouses: One, a GRAMMY award-winning bassist, composer, and arranger from Cuba, and the other an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas, known as a master of all styles of music.
I was thrilled. I was like, “Oh, man! I'm happy to be at that level”. Dean is just a legend. He's played on everything, and I've recorded albums with him, but this is the first time we ever played together in the same room. And then Carlitos is famous in the jazz and the recording world. We've known each other for about ten years, so we're very good friends.
And, of course, quoting Gloria, “Shelly is a beast.”
Yes. All the guys that did the session are beasts. Twice, I played with Carlitos on the Latin GRAMMY’s house band. So, as I said, I was happy to be in that group of people. Sometimes I looked around and thought, “Do I belong here?” And that makes you raise your own game when you're playing with those guys.
Tell us how you got involved with Bad Bunny’s “El Último Tour del Mundo.”
I’ve been the musical director or commercial director with the Latin GRAMMY’s for the last three years. So, I had worked with Bad Bunny twice before, but never on a one-on-one basis. When he was going to start El Último Tour del Mundo, which kicked off on February 9th at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, he called Puerto Rican artist, Tommy Torres, who's a very good friend of mine. He told Tommy he wanted to put a band together and asked him for suggestions. Tommy mentioned my name as someone who could be the musical director and set up the right guys together. At the end of January, they flew me to Colorado for rehearsals, and then we did a three-month tour, which ended in April.
Touring is very different from your studio recording work. Tell us about that experience.
Well, the funny thing is that touring has never been my main focus. When I was younger, I toured with Julio Iglesias from 1994 to 1997. That was great because I saw the world and got paid for it. I also toured with Jon Secada and Ricky Martin . . . but really, I’ve been a studio session musician for most of my career and that’s my playground.
Looking back again at the “Estefan’s Family Christmas" album, what would be your outtake on that studio session experience?
You know, it’s so rare nowadays to get to do an album where four musicians are playing at the same time and feeding off each other, which is how it used to be when I first started recording. That's the way everything was done. So, having that experience is so special. When you're working with musicians who are that good and with an artist [Gloria] who is also that good, there are no egos . . . everyone is just there to make good music and have a good time. It was such a relaxed experience. I'm usually here in my studio recording alone so, I would do that every day if I could.
That’s a good comparison of how recording used to be and what it is now.
Yes, many people record on their own now. I'm lucky because I put this studio together 20 years ago. I quickly saw how technology and working from home was a game-changer. It increased my productivity because I didn’t have to move my drums anywhere. You save at least six hours a day just having that setup and being able to walk in the room and start recording immediately. But, as technology has created a wonderful environment to be productive, it’s also taken away that synergy you have with other musicians.
So, what would be your best advice to our students who were born and raised with this technology, this way of life?
Play with as many people as you can. Frost School of Music has an incredible recording studio. Record as much as you can, but with other people, because there's something very special one gets from that. You understand important lessons in a live session when you record a song and get to hear it back. Suddenly, you realize, “Oh, I shouldn't have done that. I stepped on that person. Oh, my bad.” You start to listen critically to what everybody's doing as opposed to just yourself. When you're recording by yourself, it's very focused on what you're doing instead of the music. As a session musician, the most important thing, is always the song and the artist. You are there to support them, not to get in the way of anybody. Only by recording with other people at the same time do you fully understand how that happens.
The other thing I would say is network. The same people you're going to school with now may get a gig before you do. If suddenly, they're asked, “Hey, can you find a drummer, guitar player or whatever, I need somebody that fits this . . .”. They're going to remember you—the people they're familiar with. So, never say no to anything. Quite the opposite, say yes to everything. If someone gets a gig, chances are you’ll get a gig. Being part of Frost School of Music opens doors and it is a very well-respected place. Even if I didn't go to school with somebody, the fact that they graduated from here, tells me they're starting at a level that I respect, and I’ve found that to be true for the last 30 years.
