He plays both instruments (bass and guitar) equally great. I'm just wondering what is his main instrument. I know that he plays bass with a pick so maybe he's a guitarist first bass player second?

[Edited 8/25/13 6:46am]

[Edited 8/25/13 6:47am]

I always thought he was a bass player who started playing guitar.

BlaqueKnight said:

I always thought he was a bass player who started playing guitar.

It's probably the other way around since he's been playing again on guitar, but I'm not 100% positive. I think only Uptown insiders would know.

Excerpt from interview with Levi Seacer, Jr. in Guitarist magazine, October 1990.

by Rick Batey

"Our church was very different to most churches, though," Levi explains. " We had electric guitars and synthesisers and all that stuff, so it wasn't exactly traditional. ....

"And when I was learning to play guitar and bass, I learned a lot of different styles. George Benson was one of my real heroes. ...

Perhaps surprisingly for one who occupies such a desirable bass-playing position, Levi didn't start out with four strings under his hand.

"I'm a a guitarist at heart, really. There was a point in time when I became sick of playing in bands that only stuck together for a year before they broke up, so when the first TEAC four-track came out. I said, 'wow, now I can write my own music and play all by myself!' So I learned the bass, and a little keyboaards and drum programming. I played the guitar - and the bass later on - with Sheila E for three years before I was with Prince."

langebleu said:

Excerpt from interview with Levi Seacer, Jr. in Guitarist magazine, October 1990.

by Rick Batey

"Our church was very different to most churches, though," Levi explains. " We had electric guitars and synthesisers and all that stuff, so it wasn't exactly traditional. ....

"And when I was learning to play guitar and bass, I learned a lot of different styles. George Benson was one of my real heroes. ...

Perhaps surprisingly for one who occupies such a desirable bass-playing position, Levi didn't start out with four strings under his hand.

"I'm a a guitarist at heart, really. There was a point in time when I became sick of playing in bands that only stuck together for a year before they broke up, so when the first TEAC four-track came out. I said, 'wow, now I can write my own music and play all by myself!' So I learned the bass, and a little keyboaards and drum programming. I played the guitar - and the bass later on - with Sheila E for three years before I was with Prince."

Thanks for clearing that out A nice story too.

Love Levi's sound. Anyone know what he's up to nowadays?

SirLancelot said:

Love Levi's sound. Anyone know what he's up to nowadays?

if u are friends with him on facebook he will gladly talk 2 u last time i talked 2 him he told me him and prince still keep in contact and somtimes jam 2gether and not 2 believe what people say about a beef between them. last time he posted he was playing with jody wately

I saw him with Jody Watley in SF a couple years ago. I forget if he was on guitar or bass. I think it was guitar.

GaryMF said:

I saw him with Jody Watley in SF a couple years ago. I forget if he was on guitar or bass. I think it was guitar.

I believe he's on guitar.

It's funny how Levi is hardly ever mentionned on this forum: he's one of the most important Prince musicians when u think of it: not only did he play with him for 7 years but in the late 80's and early 90's he worked in the studio with P more than anyone else, they composed and recorded many tracks together, particularly in 89, which is remarkable since P is known not to be too comfortable working with other people in the studio. Also, Prince trusted him (as well as David Z and Michael Koppleman and later Ricky Peterson) to handle the side-projects he didn't have time to (or didn't want to) handle, see for example how TC explained Prince said Levi had to be his producer while TC would rather have worked with Mico on his album. Levi also jammed a lot with Prince on Madhouse-like projects and if I'm not mistaken he was responsible for the NPG's rehearsals when P was busy elsewhere. In the end Prince trusted him more than any other at the time when it came to musical projects. I'm not sure what happened when P allowed him to be the artistic director of the newly created NPG records in 94, and Levi reportedly disappeared overnight one day, without a word. I'd love to hear Levi's side of the story (maybe a Dye's Got The Answers interview soon???). Last time I heard of him was in the late 90's, he was musical director for Sounds Of Blackness and I attended a SOB show and had the good surprise to see him on stage. Never heard of him ever since.

databank said:

It's funny how Levi is hardly ever mentionned on this forum: he's one of the most important Prince musicians when u think of it: not only did he play with him for 7 years but in the late 80's and early 90's he worked in the studio with P more than anyone else, they composed and recorded many tracks together, particularly in 89, which is remarkable since P is known not to be too comfortable working with other people in the studio. Also, Prince trusted him (as well as David Z and Michael Koppleman and later Ricky Peterson) to handle the side-projects he didn't have time to (or didn't want to) handle, see for example how TC explained Prince said Levi had to be his producer while TC would rather have worked with Mico on his album. Levi also jammed a lot with Prince on Madhouse-like projects and if I'm not mistaken he was responsible for the NPG's rehearsals when P was busy elsewhere. In the end Prince trusted him more than any other at the time when it came to musical projects. I'm not sure what happened when P allowed him to be the artistic director of the newly created NPG records in 94, and Levi reportedly disappeared overnight one day, without a word. I'd love to hear Levi's side of the story (maybe a Dye's Got The Answers interview soon???). Last time I heard of him was in the late 90's, he was musical director for Sounds Of Blackness and I attended a SOB show and had the good surprise to see him on stage. Never heard of him ever since.

So true, no idea why we (the Org) have collectively forgotten about him!

He was (is) an amazing artist, I really liked his jazzy guitar solo on Sexy MF.