Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom - Safari To New Orleans (1988)

Reuvain Zev ben Yehoshua Ha Levi, 29 May 1951, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Levy played clarinet during his childhood and, inspired by a Ray Charles concert, started playing piano at the age of 13. He soon took up organ too, and, influenced by Billy Preston and Jimmy Smith, was a quick learner. Two years later he was backing up blues artists performing in the Boston area. At 17 the young musician was discovered and hired by blues legend Albert King. Still in high school, Levy worked with King, who had become his legal guardian, for 18 months. From December 1969 to February 1976 he played piano and organ in B.B. King’s band. The period from that time until 1980 saw him work with the Rhythm Rockers, led by Johnny Nicholas and featuring the young Ronnie Earl on lead guitar. As the house band of the Speakeasy in Cambridge they honed their skills backing up great blues musicians, among them Walter Horton, Johnny Shines and Roosevelt Sykes. After working with Luther ‘Guitar Junior’ Johnson for three years, Levy played with Roomful Of Blues from 1983-87. In addition to recording with his own band, Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom, he has played on numerous recordings by other artists, and since 1985, has produced a steady stream of albums for labels such as Black Top and Bullseye Blues. He became an in-house producer for the latter.