“Too Close To The Pole” was the final Weather Clear, Track Fast recording and in it Previte went even further along an almost choral/African direction, assembling a completely different band of musicians who at that time were very new to the New York scene, but who quickly became indispensable to it—musicians like Jamie Saft, Cuong Vu and Andy Laster . The CD, recorded in Germany, was released in 1996, and is the culmination of his writing with that orchestration. Previte has not written for a large front line since.
The
New York Times—"His pieces slowly and carefully make
their way to an incantory place where jubilation reigns.”
The New Yorker— "His ensemble speaks in visionary tongues."
A groundbreaking disc that jumps off the player. Again, yes, out of print.
"Too Close To The Pole"
Click on the
to download an mp3 sample.
- Too Close to the Pole (4:21)
- 3 Minute Heels (13:01)
- The Countess' Bedroom (8:24)
- Save the Cups (7:30)
- The Eleventh Hour (13:01)
- Too Close to the Pole (Reprise) (5:46) (5.8MB
mp3 download)
- Box End, Open End (16:11)
Lindsey Horner :: electric bass, tin whistle, voice
Andy Laster :: baritone saxophone, clarinet, flute, voice
Cuong Vu :: trumpet, voice
Jamie Saft :: piano, fender rhodes electric piano, hammond organ, clavinet, voice
Curtis Hasselbring :: trombone, voice
Andrew D'Angelo :: alto saxophone, bass clarinet, voice
Bobby Previte :: drums, voice
Recorded April 27, 28, 29, 1996 at Marweg, EMI Studios, Cologne, Germany
Mixed June 12, 13, 14 1996 at River Sound, New York
Recorded and mixed by Joe Ferla
Produced by Bobby Previte
Executive producers: Ulrich Kurth and Matthias Winckelmann
Band photo: David Sinclair
Traycard and animal photgraphy: Bongo Monopoly (with a little help from Tom Varner)
Design by Janene Higgins
All compositions by Bobby Previte except "The Countess' Bedroom" from The Queen of Spades by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1996 - ENJA Records, ENJ 9306 2
LINER NOTES BY BOBBY PREVITE
Köln, Germany April 29, 5:30 AM
We've been hitting it hard for three weeks now. Seven countries in all, two sets a night, two or three trains every day, and tonight we just got out of that studio alive. Got to catch a train to Dresden in ninety minutes. I can't believe Ferla is still standing, sixteen hours in the control room without a break. The band had some downtime while they fixed the tape machine so we played football on the EMI lawn. On the final play D'Angelo cut wide down the sideline and Laster and I ran him into that bench, and I thought Bobby, you idiot, there goes the record. I want to get some things down now while I'm in that precious no sleep lucidity... "Too Close to the Pole" had me by the throat for a long while, mostly because I was much too pleased with myself and my theme (it happens to everybody), but we finally stared it down, I put the main body in the sure hands of Cuong and it came in from the cold... On tour, I sometimes thought that "3 Minute Heels" existed just to remind me how much I had to learn (it's not too easy for the rest of the band to play, either), but my brother Lindsey kept my faith in myself, in it, and in us... I've become a semi-rabid opera fan lately (no doubt folding back into my Italian heritage), and one evening in the middle of a three hour masterpiece there was this, this jewel, this "Countess' Bedroom," this force suddenly pushing me into the back of my seat; then on the silent walk home Valerie said suddenly, "Did you hear that one section..." and I had to have it, I had to undress it until (I pray) I got out what there was in it that could be mine (which I swear is the only reason one should attempt another's music in the first place)... "Break the Cups," from Empty Suits, has mutated into "Save the Cups"... I can only guess why - Curtis and Jamie show the way... "The Eleventh Hour" is something we've been elevating over the page for two years now - dig on Andy... Well I brought back my old friend, the Reprise (OK, but I haven't done that for at least two records); Andrew rides the tiger...
And then, and then...
Have patience, because patience is hard won, because patience is rare, and because there is always and everywhere both an open and a box end.