Chuck Leavell

Chuck Leavell (born Charles Alfred Leavell, April 28, 1952) is an American pianist and keyboardist. He was formerly a member of The Allman Brothers Band, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a popular session musician. Later, Chuck was the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones.

Biography

Chuck was born in Birmingham, Alabama and is a mostly self-taught musician. He was inspired by seeing Ray Charles in concert (with Billy Preston in the backup band) to seek a music industry career, and subsequently dropped out of high school to do so. Chuck made contacts with Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records, where he met his future wife, and relocated to Georgia.

Leavell enjoys "giving back" to the community of his birth. In 1992, he played on a record titled "Mr. President," which was produced by noted Birmingham jazz keyboardist and vocalist Ray Reach for the purpose of raising money for the homeless in Birmingham, Alabama. Chuck and several other well-known Alabama musicians (including Chuck Tilley, Charlie Hayward and Kelley O'Neal) donated their time for this worthy project.

In an April 2007 radio interview on WOR-AM, Chuck said his three favorite contributions to songs in his career were "Jessica" with the Allmans, "Old Love" on Eric Clapton's Unplugged, and "Already Over Me" from the Rolling Stones' "Bridges to Babylon" record.

On March 20, 2008, Chuck Leavell was bestowed with a BAMA Award (Birmingham Area Music Awards) for his contributions to the Birmingham, Alabama musical heritage. The 2008 BAMA Awards ceremony was held at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (in the historic Carver Theatre in the Birmingham Civil Rights District). Chuck performed at this ceremony, accompanied by the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars directed by Ray Reach. Also, at the same ceremony, a BAMA Award was bestowed upon keyboardist / producer Peter Wolf.

In April 2008, Leavell performed with a supergroup which opened for Chuck Berry in Boston. The concert raised money for artists struggling with addiction.

Discography

Solo albums

• What's in That Bag? (1998)
• Forever Blue: Solo Piano (2001)
• Southscape (2005)

Bibliography

• Leavell, Chuck, with Mary Welch. Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest. Evergreen Arts, 2001. ISBN 0-86554-900-1.
• Leavell, Chuck, with J. Marshall Craig. Between Rock and a Home Place. Mercer University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-86554-975-3.
• Leavell, Chuck. Chuck Leavell: Piano Instruction, Vol. 1 (DVD) 2005.
• Leavell, Chuck, Nicholas Cravotta, and Rebecca Bleau. The Tree Farmer. VSP Books, 2005. ISBN 1-893622-16-9.

External links

• Official website
• New Georgia Encyclopedia entry
• Leavell, Chuck. "Family Forestry in Twiggs County, Georgia / Live in Macon at the Douglass Theatre" Southern Spaces February 2006.
• Interview and article focusing on Leavell's activism. "Chuck Leavell: Wrapped up in Trees" Crawdaddy! March 2008.
• NPR interview, Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz 4-18-08