Peter James Levinson (1 July 1934 Atlantic City, New Jersey - 21 October 2008 Malibu) was an American music publicist and biographer, particularly of jazz musicians.
[1] After completing service in the Army in Korea, he wrote freelance on jazz music in New York City and took a job at Columbia Records in the late 1950s.
[1] He spent nearly fifty years in the music industry as a promoter and representative for stars such as Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, Lalo Schifrin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chuck Mangione, Dave Brubeck, Rosemary Clooney, Erroll Garner, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Dexter Gordon, Maynard Ferguson, Pete Fountain, Art Garfunkel, Bud Shank, Phyllis Diller, George Shearing, Chick Corea, Jim Hall, Benny Carter, Charlie Byrd, Louie Bellson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jack Lemmon, and Mel Tormé.
He founded his own company, Peter Levinson Communications, which was based initially in New York; though he reduced his clientele in the 1980s and 1990s, he continued to represent clients into the early 2000s.
[1] Late in his career, Levinson began writing biographies, completing works on Harry James, Nelson Riddle, and Tommy Dorsey.