Bobby Previte

Composer

Previte has drawn critical praise for his composing and orchestrating skills. A review of his 1988 album Claude's Late Morning pointed out his knack for blending a wide range of instruments—drums, drum machine, electric guitar, keyboards, trombone, harp, accordion, banjo, pedal steel guitar, tuba, and harmonica—while giving each its own voice. Another critic highlighted his driving, propulsive compositions that mix fiery jazz expressionism with layered counterpoint reminiscent of contemporary minimalism. In 1991, he composed the score for "Cirk Valentin" (Moscow Circus on Stage), a Broadway show at the Gershwin Theatre featuring circus acts devised by Valentin Gneushev.

Performer

Previte has received strong reviews and feature articles in major newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian for performing across many genres and venues, noted for both his intellectual aesthetic and his ability to groove. As of spring 2007, his current projects included "Dialed In," a solo electronic drum show with video artist Benton C Bainbridge; The Coalition of the Willing, a guitar quartet with Charlie Hunter, Steven Bernstein, and Jamie Saft; "Strike," a quartet with organist Marco Benevento and two saxophones; "Groundtruther," a duo with Hunter; "The Beta Popes," a power trio with Skerik and Saft; and "Swami LatePlate," a duo with Jamie Saft.

Much of his work is improvisational; one of his favorite recorded improvisational collaborations is "Euclid's Nightmare" (1997) with John Zorn. In the 1990s, he played with the fully improvisational Seattle collective Ponga, which included Wayne Horvitz, Skerik, and Dave Palmer. He also appeared in Robert Altman's film Short Cuts. In 1997, he founded the record label Depth of Field.