Mark Levine is the coolest cat north of Havana. The Latin jazz aficionado has one of the most impressive backgrounds of jazz music in the 21st century. His repertoire includes sharing a studio with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker and Tito Puente.

Sacramento State will be submerged in Levine’s world when he and The Capitol Jazz Project (CJP) perform its tribute to jazz piano legend Bud Powell. “A Year of Bebop,” will be presented at 7 p.m. on Sunday in the Music Recital Room of Capistrano Hall.

A native of Daytona Beach, Fla., the smooth-talking Levine grew up in New Hampshire where upon listening to his older brother’s Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tiener records, a musician was born. The young pianist refined his art during late night bebop sessions in the smoky saloons and crowded jazz clubs of New York City and Boston.

Contrary to Levine’s early jazz education, contemporary musical instruction of the genre has improved.

“When I was in college at Berkeley, it was the only university to have a jazz program,” Levine said. “Now it’s down to the middle school level and even some elementary schools. It’s grown so rapidly, and for jazz it’s a completely healthy sign.”

In 1980, he was featured on Latin jazz icon Cal Tjader’s album, “La Onda Va Bien,” which won a Grammy for Best Latin album. In 1997, he traveled to Cuba and studied at the Centro Nacional de Escuela de Arte in Havana. Then in 2003, Levine and The Latin Tinge received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Recording for the track “Isla.”

Levine won’t be alone when he comes to Sac State. The Capitol Jazz Project will perform the tunes of Powell. The CJP has entertained and educated Sacramento audiences since the late ’90s on the composers and eras which have defined a genre and made jazz what it is today.

Rick Lotter from the music department takes care of the rhythm responsibilities for the CJP and two others, pianist Joe Gilman and bassist Kerry Kashiwagi, who both instruct at American River College in Sacramento.

“Our intent is to inform and let them know what it is all about,” CJP saxophonist Mike McMullen said. “Really, it’s all about the music.”

From Afro-Cuban to Brazilian to Bulgarian, the members of the CJP have experienced jazz styles from all corners of the Earth and have collaborated with their diverse techniques to create an eclectic and worldly sound.

But the concert is to be all about Powell, as the group will play some numbers from his legendary and inspirational library as well as present a viable background of the man and the era. McMullen said that while other jazz legends like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie often receive much more recognition for their work, Powell was the instrument that inspired them.

“Bud Powell was way ahead of his time and did some very interesting things,” McMullen said. “He was an early genius of jazz and the father of modern piano.”

While Sac State’s jazz program is only two years old and relatively small in numbers, the opportunity to encounter a collaboration of high caliber musicians has an educational significance.”It’s one of the best things we have to offer,” Steve Roach, director of Sac State’s Jazz Studies said. “Students get to see first hand the interaction of professional musicians and their interpretation of one of the great piano players.”

Admission to “A Year in Bebop” will be $8 for general and $5 for students and seniors.

More information about the Capital Jazz Project can be found on its official Web site.

Josh Huggett can be reached at [email protected]