Bobby Previte
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bobby" Previte is a drummer
, composer
and bandleader
. Previte earned a B.A.
in Economics at the University at Buffalo
, where he also studied percussion
. He moved to New York City
in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz
and experimental music
scenes. He began professional relationships with John Zorn
, Wayne Horvitz
, Elliott Sharp
and others that have continued, intermittently, to the present.
and drum machine
, electric guitar
and keyboards, trombone
, harp
, accordion
, banjo
, pedal steel guitar
, tuba
, and harmonica
— while emphasizing each instrument's unique, individual sound." Another critic notes Previte's "driving and propulsive compositions, featuring both fiery jazz expressionism and layered counterpoint
that suggested elements of contemporary minimalism
.
Previte's compositions are often tightly arranged, although they leave room for significant amounts of improvisation. Additionally, Previte often uses unusual instrumentation and also draws on many non-jazz musics for his compositions.
In 1991, he wrote the score for "Cirk Valentin" (Moscow Circus on Stage), a stage show consisting of circus acts created by Valentin Gneushev
that performed at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway
.
Recent large-scale compositional works as of Spring 2007 include:
Previte is currently working on a series of percussion concertos featuring So Percussion
ensemble and solo improvisers scheduled to premiere in 2011.
Much of Previte's work is also improvisational. One of Previte's own favorite recorded improvisational collaborations was with John Zorn
, "Euclid's Nightmare
" (Depth of Field 1997). In the 1990s, he performed with the Seattle-based 100% improvisational musical collective Ponga
with Wayne Horvitz
, Skerik
, and Dave Palmer
. Previte has collaborated with Jamie Saft
as "Swami Late Plate." Also the improvisational Bobby Previte, Jamie Saft, Skerik: Live in 2003 (DVD - Word Public) was released in 2006. April In New York, is a 5-DVD set released 2007 of improvisational duets.
Previte appeared in the movie Short Cuts
directed by Robert Altman
.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. Previte earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Economics at the University at Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
, where he also studied percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
scenes. He began professional relationships with John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer.-Biography:Horvitz, a "defiant cross-breeder of genres", has led the groups The President, Pigpen, Zony Mash, and the Four Plus One Ensemble...
, Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from blues, jazz, and orchestral music to noise, no wave rock,...
and others that have continued, intermittently, to the present.
Composer
While Previte is a talented drummer he has also received critical acclaim for his "exceptional abilities as a composer and orchestrator." A review of his 1988 album Claude's Late Morning reports that "Perhaps most striking is Previte's skill in composing music that fully integrates these disparate instruments — including drumsDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and keyboards, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
— while emphasizing each instrument's unique, individual sound." Another critic notes Previte's "driving and propulsive compositions, featuring both fiery jazz expressionism and layered counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
that suggested elements of contemporary minimalism
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
.
Previte's compositions are often tightly arranged, although they leave room for significant amounts of improvisation. Additionally, Previte often uses unusual instrumentation and also draws on many non-jazz musics for his compositions.
In 1991, he wrote the score for "Cirk Valentin" (Moscow Circus on Stage), a stage show consisting of circus acts created by Valentin Gneushev
Valentin Gneushev
Valentin Gneushev is a Russian circus director and choreographer.Gneushev was born in the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Serdlovsk region....
that performed at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Recent large-scale compositional works as of Spring 2007 include:
- "The Constellations Ensemble," a chamber group touring the multi-media show, The 23 Constellations of Joan Miró.
- "The Separation," a collaboration with writer/director Andrea Kleine "dealing with the role of religion in society. Based on the 15th century composer Guilliaume Dufay’s Missa Sancti Jacobi and written for early music pioneers the Rose Ensemble with electric band."
Previte is currently working on a series of percussion concertos featuring So Percussion
So Percussion
So Percussion is an American percussion quartet based in New York City.Composed of Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Eric Beach, the group is well known for recording and touring internationally and for its work with composers such as Steve Reich, David Lang, Paul Lansky, Martin...
ensemble and solo improvisers scheduled to premiere in 2011.
Performer
Previte has received excellent reviews and full articles in major newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian for playing a wide range of genres and venues and for qualities as diverse as his intellectual aesthetic to his ability "to groove." Recent and current projects as of Spring 2007 include :- "Dialed In," a solo electronic drum show collaboration with video artist Benton-C Bainbridge.
- The Coalition of the WillingThe Coalition of the Willing (band)The Coalition of the Willing is an instrumental jazz and rock "all-star" ensemble led by Bobby Previte. Live performances are improvisational emphasizing groove, experimental and cross-genres. The self-titled album was released 2006 and the tour began in early 2006...
, a guitar quartet featuring Charlie HunterCharlie Hunterfor the New Zealand racehorse trainer and driver see: Charlie HunterCharlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader....
, Steven Bernstein and Jamie SaftJamie SaftJamie Saft is a keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound engineer and producer living in upstate NY. Saft was born in Flushing Queens, New York in 1971 and is a graduate of both Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. He has performed and recorded with John Zorn,...
. - "Strike," a new quartet with organist Marco BeneventoMarco BeneventoMarco Benevento is a pianist, organist and composer from Brooklyn, New York. Benevento is known for his effected piano work with his trio as well as his Hammond Organ and Wurlitzer Electric Piano work with the Benevento Russo Duo...
and two saxophones. - "Groundtruther," a duo with Hunter.
- "The Beta Popes," a power trio with SkerikSkerikSkerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...
and Saft. - "Swami LatePlate," a duo with Jamie Saft.
Much of Previte's work is also improvisational. One of Previte's own favorite recorded improvisational collaborations was with John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, "Euclid's Nightmare
Euclid's Nightmare
-Track listing:# - 1:07# - 1:05# - 1:09# - 1:06# - 2:02# - 1:06# - 1:03# - 2:00# - 1:01# - 1:41# - 1:05# - 0:59# - 1:07# - 2:02# - 2:06# - 2:04# - 1:01# - 1:03# - 3:43# - 1:13# - 2:06# - 2:38# - 1:13# - 1:07# - 1:02# - 1:19# - 4:01...
" (Depth of Field 1997). In the 1990s, he performed with the Seattle-based 100% improvisational musical collective Ponga
Ponga (band)
Ponga was a Seattle-based improvisational quartet composed of Dave Palmer , Bobby Previte , Skerik and Wayne Horvitz . Ponga's performances and recordings were entirely improvised with no over dubs. The quartet started in 1997 and upon their first self-titled release in 1999 toured North America,...
with Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer.-Biography:Horvitz, a "defiant cross-breeder of genres", has led the groups The President, Pigpen, Zony Mash, and the Four Plus One Ensemble...
, Skerik
Skerik
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...
, and Dave Palmer
Dave Palmer (American keyboardist)
Dave Palmer is an American session keyboardist native to Texas and living in Studio City, California. Palmer has toured, performed, or recorded with Air, Fiona Apple, Seal, Chris Isaak, Joe Henry, Bobby Previte, Wayne Horvitz, Ponga, Critters Buggin, MC 900 Foot Jesus, Aimee Mann, Solomon Burke,...
. Previte has collaborated with Jamie Saft
Jamie Saft
Jamie Saft is a keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound engineer and producer living in upstate NY. Saft was born in Flushing Queens, New York in 1971 and is a graduate of both Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. He has performed and recorded with John Zorn,...
as "Swami Late Plate." Also the improvisational Bobby Previte, Jamie Saft, Skerik: Live in 2003 (DVD - Word Public) was released in 2006. April In New York, is a 5-DVD set released 2007 of improvisational duets.
Previte appeared in the movie Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
directed by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
.