Biography

Stan Levey (April 5, 1926 – April 19, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. Born in Philadelphia, Levey is considered one of the earliest bebop drummers, one of the very few white drummers involved in the formative years of bebop and accepted as one of bop's most important drummers, along with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach. He played in Philadelphia with Dizzy Gillespie's group in 1942, at the age of 16. Soon after he went to New York, where he and Dizzy worked on 52nd Street with Charlie Parker and Oscar Pettiford.