my musical memoir "I speak music" out now

Available on Amazon and Kindle eBook.

Howard Levy delivers a memoir as inventive and uncompromising as his music. With a storyteller’s eye and an improviser’s ear, he charts the path of a life built on risk, curiosity, and the relentless pursuit of sound.

Across 88 vivid, interlocking stories spanning 450 pages and covering almost 70 years, Howard opens a window into the making of an artist and the art of making a life in music. He shares the unlikely serendipities that shaped him and led him to collaborate with Dolly Parton, Béla Fleck, Tito Puente, Donald Fagen, Jack Bruce, Jerry Garcia, Kenny Loggins, Paquito D’Rivera and many more.

You’ll hear about adventures with these legends as well as a slew of unsung heroes, and come along on the many wild detours and unexpected turns that shaped the ride.

“My solos are on paper this time. Took me long enough.”

With a wonderful introduction by the great Ben Sidran (musician, composer, and author), this book is a rare, intimate portrait of a modern virtuoso and musical polymath—now available as a signed first-edition paperback.

Concerto Premiere

My newly composed concerto, "Eastern European Harmonica and Piano Concerto for Single Soloist", for full orchestra, will be premiered in fall of 2026 in Destin, FL with Sinfonia Gulf Coast, conducted by Demetrius Fuller. (date TBA)

This concerto features me equally on both instruments, sometimes simultaneously. It a highly personal excursion through the exotic tonalities and complex rhythms of Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek music, and more. Of course, expect improvised solo cadenzas and many virtuosic orchestral passages as well.

I hope you can join us and share this incredible experience with me. 

Howard

Full of exuberant interactions between the legendary violinist Johnny Frigo, Howard Levy, and our incredible quintet. 

Recorded in the mid 1980s, these tracks capture spontaneous, off-the-hook duet soloing between Johnny (violin) and Howard (diatonic harmonica), and the hard-swinging artistry of Mike Kocour (piano), Eric Hochberg (bass), and Paul Wertico (drums). The band had a fiery musical rapport that was captured on this magical recording.

Trio Globo has crafted a totally original voice in contemporary acoustic jazz. With roots in jazz, classical and sacred music, rhythmic influences derived from travels in six continents, and a combustible spontaneity, cellist Eugene Friesen, pianist and master harmonica player Howard Levy, and percussionist Glen Velez epitomize the quintessential group for the 21st century. They are true originals re-inventing their instruments in new music both personal and global.

“Eugene, Howard & Glen are magnificent players with distinct musical voices. Together they have a fresh new sound and offer a unique vision of the world of music.”—Dave Brubeck

Howard recommends: