Concert: Solos & Duos Series: Doom Jazz
The Solos & Duos Series begins its 7th season with a duo concert by Doom Jazz: Bobby Previte and Jamie Saft. In one sense a piano trio, with Previte on drums and Saft doubling on piano and electric bass, this project borrows from heavy rock sensibilities. Using doom - a slow, foreboding style of heavy metal - as a template, the duo crafts music that creeps along powerfully.
Raised on Soul and Rock, Bobby Previte studied formally at the University of Buffalo, where faculty and included new music pioneers John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Jan Williams. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began a long association with the leading lights of the "Downtown" scene. Widely hailed for his electrifying drumming and his stunning and "unclassifiable" music, Previte has received numerous grants and awards. He has been interviewed on Terry Gross' "Fresh Air," appeared with William Shatner on "Saturday Night Live" and was "the drummer" in Robert Altman's landmark film, "Short Cuts."
"Bobby Previte is in many ways the archetypal 21st Century Musician," states The Penguin Guide to Jazz, "open-eared, adventurous, uncategorizable and technically flawless."
Previte's recent projects include The Constellations Ensemble, a chamber group touring the multi-media show, "The 23 Constellations of Joan Miró," Dialed In, a solo electronic drum show, The Coalition of the Willing, a guitar quartet featuring Charlie Hunter, Stephen Bernstein and Jamie Saft, and Groundtruther, a duo with Hunter.
Saft's stylistic versatility, multi-instrumentalist capabilities, and production skills have been featured with The Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, The B-52's, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn and John Adams. Saft has recently composed a number of original film scores and music for television. Recent films scored include the Oscar nominated film "Murderball", Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "God Grew Tired Of Us",
and currently airing HBO documentary "Dear Talula". Saft has also contributed score music for Nickelodeon, MTV, and A&E. Saft has released a number of records, including "Breadcrumb Sins" (Tzadik), "Trouble- The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan" (Tzadik), "Sovlanut" (Tzadik), and Swami LatePlate's "Doom Jazz" (Veal). Saft also runs his own record label which features releases from a number of his various projects.