Swami LatePlate

Swami LatePlate is the name of an experimental jazz/improv duo that includes drummer/composer Bobby Previte and pianist/organist/keyboardist/composer Jamie Saft. Both men are obsessed with modern heavy metal. They created the duo Swami LatePlate identity to make modern, sophisticated, exploratory jazz using the compositional aesthetics of doom metal. Saft doubled on electric bass. Both musicians have been important to New York City's downtown scene and beyond, and both are bandleaders and recording artists, as well as prolific sidemen who've amassed hundreds of credits each and have worked together often. Their 2007 album, simply titled Doom Jazz, was digitally issued by Previte, then as a physical entry from Saft's Veal Records. It was eventually licensed to Italy's Subsound for European release. The duo's compositions are performed slowly and powerfully, using simple themes carried by dynamically and dramatically restrained basslines ornamented by crystalline piano and Previte's canny drumming; his style here is signified by employing cymbal vibrations and rim shots that initially resonate in the foreground before becoming static, then naturally decaying before his next strike. While their music is not metal in any respect at all, its metal inspiration lent itself seamlessly to modern vanguard jazz. Their sound on the album was celebrated for its bright, harmonic clarity. Following the release, the pair played some shows together then went on to their individual careers while working jointly whenever time would allow. Following the release of DoomJazz, they issued several important albums together. While Previte appeared, Saft spearheaded 2009's Black Shabbis, a sibling jazz project of DoomJazz deeply influenced by Black Sabbath. In 2014, they released The New Standard in a trio with bassist Steve Swallow. 2017's The Loneliness Road featured that trio and vocalist Iggy Pop. In 2020 they released Music from the Early 21st Century in another trio with guitarist Nels Cline. In October 2023, 16 years after their debut, the Swami LatePlate duo released DoomJazz II: Deception on Subsound.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo