Gayle Levant - Salvi Harps, Inc.

chord changes.HC: So playing jazz piano must havecarried across into that.GL: Oh, yes! What happened was Ifound that as I was starting to play,whether it was by myself or playing withgroups, I always saw the keyboard in frontof me—it was always in my eyes. So I wasalways thinking the piano at the harp.And when I would play alone, and playsolos, I never had music. I would just playby ear. And I wouldn’t play anythingunless I knew all the lyrics. And then Iwould play as if I were singing, so I reallyended up singing through my fingers.And I still do the same today when I play.I’m singing through my fingers, because Idon’t have a singing voice.From Judy Garland to BarbraStreisand, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett,Ray Charles—all of the singers that wereso prevalent at that time had a majorimpact on me. Then a gentleman fromthe Dunes hotel—his name was MajorRiddle—came into the restaurant where Iwas working one night, and approachedme and said he was going to be buildinga room that would feature a harpist.Would I be interested?HC: Oh, I was hoping you would tellme about this, I love this!GL: A year later, he came back to theHilton. It was in February of ’65, and Iwent to Vegas to see the restaurant theyhad built. It was in a round. It had twolevels where the tables were placedaround the room, along with this moat,this lake—lagoon—that was in the centerof the restaurant. And they had this boatthing that the harp would sit on, with aremote control to stop and start. So I couldbasically be stopping at the tables andtalking to people and taking their requestsand doing all this good stuff.So that was in February, and I think itwas in June of ’65 we opened the restaurant.You felt like you were in an aquarium,because it had on the wall, going allthe way around, a projection of fish moving.Oh, it was beautiful!HC: Think about the skills that you hadto have for that job—you can’t exactlyLevant has recorded with countless musicians over the years, including Michael Bolton(left) and Kenny G (right).walk in there with a big pile of music andbe flipping pages all night.GL: No! And there was no room for amusic stand, so you had to basically playoff the top of your head.HC: What sort of wardrobe did theyhave in mind? The Liberace gowns, perhaps?GL: They asked me, and I said, “I’ve gotlots of gowns,” and I brought them withme. I’m driving to Vegas, I’ve got the harpin the back of the car, and I happened tosee my name on the marquee out in frontof the hotel! And again, I almost droveinto the center divider! Because I don’tthink about those things, and it was atotal surprise…HC: It’s a good thing you’re a gooddriver, Gayle.GL: Yes, I’m telling you. I basicallystayed there for a month. They wanted topay X amount of dollars, and I said, “No,that’s not going to be enough.” And sothey increased the salary. They wanted meto play five hours a night, and I said, “No,four hours is what it’s going to be,” andthey wanted me to do 45-minute sets, andI said, “No, I’ll do 30- to 40-minute sets,depending.” And then they wanted to giveme a 10 minute break per hour, and I said,“No, they’re going to be 20 minutes.”Anyway, I set the standard for all the yearsthe room was going. Fortunately, I hadenough wherewithal to say, “No, this iswhat I want.”HC: To make it reasonable for anybody,whoever it was.GL: Absolutely. And I knew I was onlygoing to be there for a month, because Ihad my job at the Hilton.HC: Oh, right.GL: So I came back to L.A. and continuedmy job at the Hilton, and then got acall to go back to Tahoe to play withMancini and Andy Williams. This was in‘66. I said, “Okay!” So I went up there, andthat was a lot of fun. And while I was upthere, a contractor who used to be atUniversal, by the name of Bobby Helfer,called and asked me if I’d be interested indoing a record session with Andre Previnand Julie Andrews. And I said, “I’d loveto.” I don’t know why I got called, but Idid. I had done a few sessions in town,but I didn’t know anybody. Well, it wasabsolutely beautiful. And to this day, it’sone of my most favorite albums I think Iever played on.HC: Is that the Christmas album, byany chance?GL: Yes.HC: It’s beautiful. And there’s a lot ofharp on it.GL: There’s a lot of harp on it, and Iwas the baby in the orchestra. We had an80-piece orchestra at RCA here inHollywood, and I didn’t know anybody,All I know is I just had the most won-March/April 2008Harp Column •23