Contact
Departments
Courses Taught
MHL 565: Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae: Music of Jamaica
Ensembles
Jason Levis Septet - chamber/jazz group
Joseph's Bones - live dub ensemble
The Berlin Boom Orchestra - reggae band (2013-14)
Education
PhD, Music Composition, University of California, Berkeley
Q&A
What is your hometown?
The Bay Area
What is your favorite recording? Why?
Beat Furrer "Die Blinden". His writing for percussion is inspiring and seamless in the ensemble.
What are you passionate about outside of music?
My family is a central part of my life, and I love traveling.
What was a turning point in your career?
Attending a series of workshops in composition and improvisation with Henry Threadgill
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
Recording Engineer
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
Bob Marley, Beat Furrer, Henry Threadgill
What do you think makes a concert experience unique?
Deep listening
Please list your most important collaborations.
Duo B. with Lisa Mezzacappa
What recordings can we hear you on?
Nomadic Pulse/Pulse in Dub (Slow and Steady Records)
Luminous Axis (Queen Bee Records)
Media
Biography
Jason Levis is a composer, drummer, and percussionist whose work blends jazz, contemporary improvisation, modern classical composition, and dub. His music is shaped by a strong sense of timbre, rhythm, and sonic space, reflecting a lifelong interest in exploring uncommon musical intersections. Levis has led and collaborated with numerous ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area and Berlin, Germany. He currently teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his Ph.D. in composition.