In a Race Brook first, we are proud to announce a three concert residency featuring The Bobby Previte Pocket Orchestra’s re-alchemizing of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. In each of these singular nights of music, Mr. Previte and his ensemble will use Miles’ iconic album as a jumping off place to explore a large-scale sonic conversation, equal parts arranged and improvised with the fattest funkiest freest rhythm pocket around - echoing Miles’ fusionary vision fifty-five years after it's industry-changing recording sessions.
Tracked and mixed by Teo Macero in 1969, "Bitches Brew" stands as a monumental achievement of the twentieth century, revolutionizing not just jazz but also rock, funk, soul, and pop music and the process of recording music more generally. Acclaimed as a masterpiece from its inception, its influence has only deepened with time.
“Dark, dense and filled with swirling cross-currents of rhythm and (occasionally) melody, it’s an album that yields up its many secrets slowly, upon repeated listening.” - Rural Intelligence 2014
Bobby Previte began his lifelong exploration of the "Brew" at the Knitting Factory in NYC on the 30th anniversary of the recording in 1999. He later transported the project to the Hudson valley with his much lauded shows at Club Helsinki in 2014. We are thrilled to revive this enchanting tradition in our barn space at Race Brook Lodge.
In the vein of Miles’ iconic experiment these shows will invite the audience into an intuitive process of live musical discovery. A panoramic display of sound and groove that will transport our community into the past and the future all at once. The “Bitches” Miles refers to in his controversial title of the original project, are the incredible musicians he fused together from different parts of the musical spectrum of that era. These giants came into the studio to distill, emulsify and ferment their own voices into a whole new never-before-imagined synthesis
And so it will be again with the staggering lineup of musical brewers that make up Bobby Previte’s Pocket Orchestra:
Adriana Tampasis - Bass Clarinet/Flute
Jonathan Talbott - Violin
Will Epstein - Soprano Sax
Zach Layton - Electric Guitar
Ben Vida - Keyboards
Justin Geyer - Keyboards
Lindsey Horner - Acoustic Bass
David Lizmi - Electric Bass
Angel Lau - Percussion
Bobby Previte - Drums/Conductor
Shows will be happening Saturday, December 7th, 2024, Friday, January 17th, and Friday, March 14th, 2025.
Saturday, December 7th
DINNER RESERVATIONS AT THE STAGECOACH TAVERN
Doors open at 7pm, event begins at 8pm
In The Barnspace at Race Brook Lodge
864 South Undermountain road ( AKA Rt 41 ) Sheffield, MA (click for directions)
Advance Tickets: $25 | $35 at the door
Bobby Previte began his life onstage at the 1956 Niagara Falls Talent Show, belting out a solo rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’ while draped in an over-sized suit Thinking music might be a good way to meet girls, he fashioned a drum set from a rusted garbage can, plastic trash bins, aluminum pie plates mounted on plungers, and fashioned a foot pedal from a wire coat hanger and linoleum. A year later he founded his first band, “The Devil’s Disciples,” but was fired from their first gig for not having ‘real’ drums. Seeking revenge, he took a job as a paperboy and a year later bought the Rogers kit he still uses today.
Strolling in the East Village one bright 70’s afternoon, he peered inside a limo stuck in traffic (crosstown) and suddenly found himself face to face with Jimi Hendrix. Thinking fast, he unfurled the poster of Jimi he had bought just minutes earlier, then looked on in astonishment as Hendrix smiled and flashed him the peace sign.
All the rest, as they say, is noise.
SELECTED NOISE:
COLLABORATORS: master composer John Adams, rock/blues genius Terry Adams of NRBQ, legendary filmmaker Robert Altman, country music star Jessi Colter, blues great Johnny Copeland,composer, modern thinker Lukas Foss, singular musician Elliott Sharp, definitive doom musician Stephen O’Malley, computer music pioneer Lejaren Hiller, hybrid guitar master Charlie Hunter, recently re-discovered genius Julius Eastman, rock guitarist and author Lenny Kaye, Lounge Lizards leader John Lurie, jazz/noise guitarist Sonny Sharrock, folk hero Victoria Williams, maestro Michael Tilson-Thomas, the one-and-only Tom Waits, and, most recently, rock icon Iggy Pop.
RESIDENCIES/AWARDS: NEA, NYSCA, The Greenfield Prize in Music, The Guggenheim Fellowship, he The Rockefeller Foundation
LABELS: Sony, Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Rarenoise, Gramavision, Enja, Thirsty Ear
TEACHING: Princeton University, Eastman School of Music, The New School, NYU, Bard
QUOTES:
“His ensembles speak in visionary tongues.” — The New Yorker
“A serious composer with the heart of a roadhouse rocker.” — The Village Voice
“He can break your heart with one cymbal crash.” — Jazziz
Race Brook Lodge is a hidden gem in The Berkshires, at the foot of Mt. Race and a short hike from the Appalachian trail. The yoga & event barn at Race Brook is simultaneously rustic and sublime, steeped in hundreds of years of New England history. The Stagecoach Tavern is unpretentious fine dining, exquisite farm-to-table cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Much of the food is sourced from Race Farm, right on the property!
