Adolph Stanley Levey, known professionally as Stan Levey, was born on April 5, 1926, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An American jazz drummer, Levey is noted for his early involvement in the bebop movement during the 1940s. At age 16, Levey played with Dizzy Gillespie's group in Philadelphia before moving to New York City, where he collaborated with Charlie Parker and Oscar Pettiford. In the following decade, Levey worked with bandleader Stan Kenton and later moved to the West Coast in 1954, joining Howard Rumsey and the Lighthouse All-Stars, significantly influencing West Coast jazz. Throughout his career, Levey played on thousands of recordings with notable musicians such as Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole. He retired from music in 1973 to pursue photography. Levey passed away on April 19, 2005, at the age of 79.
