Bobby Previte

Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began professional relationships with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and Elliott Sharp.

Composer
Previte has 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 drums 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.

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:
 * "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."

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 Willing, a guitar quartet featuring Charlie Hunter, Steven Bernstein and Jamie Saft.
 * "Strike", a new quartet with organist Marco Benevento and two saxophones.
 * "Groundtruther", a duo with Hunter.
 * "The Beta Popes", a power trio with Skerik 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, "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". Previte appeared in the movie Short Cuts, directed by Robert Altman.

In 1997, he founded the record company and label Depth of Field.

As leader/co-leader

 * 1980: Pull to Open (Zoar)
 * 1985: Bump the Renaissance (Sound Aspects)
 * 1987: Pushing the Envelope (Gramavision)
 * 1987: Dull Bang, Gushing Sound, Human Shriek (Dossier)
 * 1988: Claude's Late Morning (Gramavision)
 * 1990: Empty Suits (Gramavision)
 * 1991: Weather Clear, Track Fast (Enja)
 * 1991: Music of the Moscow Circus (Gramavision)
 * 1993: Slay the Suitors (Avant) with Empty Suits
 * 1993: Hue and Cry (Enja) with Weather Clear, Track Fast
 * 1996: Too Close to the Pole (Enja) with Weather Clear, Track Fast
 * 1997: Euclid's Nightmare (Depth of Vision) with John Zorn
 * 1997: My Man in Sydney (Enja) with Latin for Travelers
 * 1998: In the Grass (Enja) with Marc Ducret
 * 1998: Downtown Lullaby (Depth of Vision) with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz and Elliott Sharp
 * 1998: Dangerous Rip (Enja) with Latin for Travelers
 * 2002: The 23 Constellations of Joan Miró (Tzadik)
 * 2002: Just Add Water (Palmetto) with Bump
 * 2002: The Prisoner's Dilemma (Church of Grob) with Elliott Sharp
 * 2003: Counterclockwise (Palmetto) with Bump
 * 2003: Come in Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader (Ropeadope) with Charlie Hunter
 * 2004: Latitude (Thirsty Ear) as Groundtruther with Charlie Hunter and special guest Greg Osby
 * 2005: Longitude (Thirsty Ear) as Groundtruther with Charlie Hunter and special guest DJ Logic
 * 2006: The Coalition of the Willing (Ropeadope)
 * 2007: Altitude (Thirsty Ear) as Groundtruther with Charlie Hunter and special guest John Medeski
 * 2007: Doom Jazz (Veal) as Swami Lateplate with Jamie Saft
 * 2008: Set the Alarm for Monday (Palmetto) with The New Bump
 * 2008: White Hate (Veal) as Beta Popes with Jamie Saft and Skerik
 * 2008: Live Hate (Veal) as Beta Popes with Jamie Saft and Skerik
 * 2008: Big Guns (Auand) with Gianluca Petrella and Antonello Salis
 * 2009: Pan Atlantic (Auand)
 * 2012: Plutino (Spacebone)
 * 2014: Terminals (Cantaloupe) with Sō Percussion, Zeena Parkins, Greg Osby, Nels Cline and John Medeski
 * 2015: We Two Kings: Charlie Hunter and Bobby Previte Play the Great Carols (Rank Hypocrisy) with Charlie Hunter
 * 2016: Mass (RareNoise) with The Rose Ensemble, Stephen O'Malley, Marco Benevento, Jamie Saft, and Reed Mathis

DVD
 * 2006: Live in Japan 2003 (Word Public) with Jamie Saft and Skerik
 * 2007: April in New York with Skerik, Zeena Parkins, Benton C Bainbridge, Elliott Sharp, and Marco Benvento
 * 2007: The Separation (Rank Hypocrisy) with Andrea Kleine

As sideman
With Terry Adams With Ray Anderson With The Bang With Bob Belden With Marco Benevento With Tim Berne With Jane Ira Bloom With William S. Burroughs With Corporate Art '''With Paul Dresher and Ned Rothenberg With Marty Ehrlich With Carol Emanuel With David Fulton With David Garland With Jerome Harris With Robin Holcomb With Lindsey Horner With Bill Horvitz With Wayne Horvitz With Charlie Hunter With Yoko Kanno With Guy Klucevsek With Makigami Koichi With The New York Composers Orchestra With Kirk Nurock With Seigen Ono With the Peggy Stern/Thomas Chapin Quintet With Ponga With Mike Pride With Bobby Radcliff With Jamie Saft With Jeffrey Schanzer With Elliott Sharp With The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet With Various Artists With Tom Varner With Tom Waits With Victoria Williams With Andreas Willers With John Zorn
 * Terrible (New World, 1995)
 * Where Home Is (Enja, 1999)
 * Sweet Chicago Suite (Intuition, 2012)
 * Omonimo (Nuevo, 1991)
 *  Black Dahlia (Blue Note, 2001)
 * Live at Tonic (Ropeadope, 2006)
 * Pace Yourself (JMT, 1991)
 * Nice View (JMT, 1994)
 * The Nearness (Arabesque, 1996)
 * The Red Quartets (Arabesque, 1999)
 * Sometimes the Magic (Arabesque, 2001)
 * Chasing Paint (Arabesque, 2003)
 * Like Silver, Like Song (Arabesque, 2004)
 * Wingwalker (Outline, 2011)
 * Early Americans (Outline, 2016)
 * Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickenson (Outline, 2017)
 * Dead City Radio (Island, 1990)
 * Corporate Art (JMT, 1991)
 * Opposites Attract (New World/CounterCurrents, 1991)
 * Pliant Plaint (Enja, 1988)
 * The Traveller's Tale (Enja, 1990)
 * Can You Hear a Motion? (Enja, 1994)
 * Malinke's Dance (OmniTone, 1999)
 * The Long View (Enja, 2002)
 * Tops of Trees (Evva, 1995)
 * Marcos & Harry (Dossier, 1988)
 * Togetherness: Control Songs, Vol. 2 (Ergodic, 1999)
 * Hidden in Plain View (New World)
 * Larks, They Crazy (Sound Aspects, 1988)
 * Don't Count On Glory (Cadence Jazz, 2005)
 * Solo Electric Guitar Compositions for an 11-Solo Guitar & Ensemble Piece Ensemble (Ear-Rational, 1991)
 * Nine Below Zero (Sound Aspects, 1986)
 * The President (Dossier, 1987)
 * Todos Santos (Sound Aspects, 1988)
 * Bring Yr Camera (Elektra/Musician, 1988)
 * Miracle Mile (Elektra/Musician, 1992)
 * Mylab (Terminus, 2004) with Tucker Martine
 * Let the Bells Ring On (There, 2015)
 * Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth (GroundUP, 2016)
 * Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless (Victor [Japan], 1998)
 * Cowboy Bebop No Disc (Victor [Japan], 1998)
 * Cowboy Bebop Blue (Victor [Japan], 1999)
 * Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse (Experimental Intermedia Foundation, 1991)
 * Polka Dots & Laser Beams (Eva, 1991)
 * ?Who Stole the Polka? (Eva, 1991)
 * Koroshi No Blues (Toshiba EMI, 1992)
 * The New York Composers Orchestra (New World, 1990)
 * First Program in Standard Time (New World/CounterCurrents, 1992)
 * Remembering Tree Friends (Koch, 1998)
 * NekonoTopia NekonoMania (Saidera, 1990)
 * Bar Del Mattatoio (Saidera, 1994)
 * Montreux 93/94 (Saidera, 1990)
 * The Fuchsia (Koch, 1997)
 * Ponga (Loosegroove, 1999)
 * The Ponga Remixes (Loosegroove, 1999)
 * Psychological (P-Vine, 2000)
 * Drummer's Corpse (AUM Fidelity, 2013)
 * Early in the Morning (A-Okay, 1985)
 * Black Shabbis (Tzadik, 2009)
 * A Bag of Shells (Tzadik, 2010)
 * The New Standard (RareNoise, 2014) with Steve Swallow
 * Loneliness Road (RareNoise, 2017) with Steve Swallow and Iggy Pop
 * Vistas (Music Vistas, 1987)
 * Virtual Stance (Dossier, 1985)
 * Fractal (Dossier, 1986)
 * Larynx (SST, 1987)
 * Sili/Contemp/Tation (Ear-Rational, 1990)
 * Arc 1: I/S/M 1980-1983 (Atavistic, 1996)
 * Arc 2: The Seventies 1972-79 (Atavistic, 1997)
 * Voodoo (Black Saint, 1986)
 * Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (A&M, 1985)
 * Island of Sanity: New Music From New York City (No Man's Land, 1987)
 * Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus (Columbia, 1992)
 * Music from and Inspired by the Film Short Cuts (Imago, 1992)
 * Covert Action (New Note, 1989)
 * Rain Dogs (Island, 1985)
 * Happy Come Home (Geffen, 1987)
 * Cityscapes (Sound Aspects, 1993)
 * The Big Gundown (Nonesuch/Icon, 1985)
 * Cobra (Hat ART, 1987)
 * Spillane (Elektra/Nonesuch, 1987)
 * The Bribe (Tzadik, 1986 [1998])
 * Filmworks VII: Cynical Hysterie Hour (CBS/Sony (Japan), 1989)
 * Filmworks 1986–1990 (Eva, 1990)
 * Filmworks III: 1990–1995 (Evva, 1995)