Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds and The Myth of California - A Seminar by Jeff Levenson

Producer Jeff Levenson (Half Note, Sony, Warner Bros, Downbeat, Billboard, the Blue Note, Thelonious Monk Competition) is back in Vienna, and we are very happy to welcome him again at JAM MUSIC LAB. 

Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds and The Myth of California
A Seminar by Jeff Levenson 

This lecture examines the conditions leading to the rise of Brian Wilson - from his years as a founding architect of rock music through the creation of his landmark album, Pet Sounds. 

We will examine Mr. Wilson’s life and work, as he formulates an idealized vision of California - Virtual Geography through music, doing for his home state what Antonio Carlos Jobim did for Brazil and George Gershwin did for New York.
Mr. Wilson will be studied as a shaper of the Great American Songbook, reflecting and projecting his times in the tradition of preceding great craftsmen George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Burt Bacharach.

Pet Sounds will be presented as a culminating moment in the arc of Brian Wilson’s career, analyzed as a production touchstone in the history of rock.

About Jeff Levenson

Jeff Levenson is a label executive, writer-producer, consultant and jazz columnist. His affiliations, past and present, include posts at Half Note, Sony, Warner Bros, Downbeat, Billboard and the Blue Note jazz club in New York. He currently produces the annual Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington DC, and has authored and/or produced events for the NEA, the US State Department, the White House, the New School for Social Research and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. His collaborations include projects with McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis, Conrad Herwig, Arturo Sandoval, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Esperanza Spalding and Bill Frisell, with production and/or supervision credits on 13 Grammy albums - 2 winners, 11 nominees. Levenson has served the Blue Note management team, advising on club programming and international development. He recruits North American representatives for Jazzahead in Germany. He contributes a column, Ears New York, to JazzFM91 in Toronto, chairs the National Jazz Committee for the Grammys, administers grants and awards as Recording Academy Trustee, and enjoys the company of musicians.