BOBBY PREVITE
Coalition of the Willing

Ropeadope Records

Read the Jazzitude Review of Jane Ira Bloom/Chasing Paint

Ever since Miles Davis announced his intention to put together the world’s greatest rock band, a certain segment of musicians generally associated with jazz and improvisational music have devoted at least part of their output to music that can be classified as rock. Drummer Bobby Previte has proven himself in a variety of settings, including work with John Zorn and saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom on a trilogy of her best recordings: The Red Quartets, Chasing Paint, and Like Silver, Like Song. He has collaborated frequently with guitarist Charlie Hunter, most recently as the duo Groundtruther, with a different special guest for each recording. Previte often plays electric drums there and in his one-man electric drum show Dialed In. Now he and Hunter unleash their inner rockers with Coalition of the Willing, joined by Jamie Saft (organ, mellotron, moog, electric guitars, electric basses), Skerik (tenor and baritone sax), Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Stanton Moore (drums), and Stew Cutler (harmonica, slide guitar).

The Soviet propaganda-inspired cover art and the song titles pulled straight from Orwell (“Ministry of Truth,” “Ministry of Love,” “Oceania”) hint at a political message of sorts, but ultimately the music stands all on its own. The group plays a surprising variety of rock-influenced sounds, from instrumental Hammond B-3 fueled surf-rock (“Ministry of Truth”), King Crimson-esque art rock (“Airstrip One”), tripped out psychedelic jams that morph into shuffling guitar boogie a la Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson (“Versificator”), arena rock grand jams (“The Ministry of Love”), anthemic, jangly indie-rock (“Oceania”), and yes, even more.

This is a succinct, tight album of instrumental rock grooves that lives up to the promise of the names on its marquee. Previte drives the proceedings admirably and his quirky compositions effortlessly mix and recombine genres. Hunter does some really fine playing, not only with his trademark eight string but also on straight electric and electric bass as well, for the first time on record. Saft provides a plethora of gorgeous and period-authentic sounds as well as recording and mixing the session. There isn’t a wasted note on the album, and no grandstanding solos, either.

The Coalition of the Willing is one of those CDs that is heard by young musicians in years hence and becomes identified as influential in their development. Previte shows that you can play rock music with your brains and still produce muscular, aggressive music. There’s a small group of connoisseurs across several genres—jazz, garage rock, instrumental rock, art rock, blues, r&b—who will appreciate what this disc offers. For them, this is a gift from Bobby Previte and his co-conspirators, and a mighty sweet one at that. Enjoy.