Jamie Saft, Steve Swallow & Bobby Previte: You Don’t Know the Life

The perpetually surprising trio of Jamie Saft, Steve Swallow & Bobby Previte’s latest venture is You Don’t Know the Life. After two releases with Saft at the acoustic piano, he limits himself this time around to two different electric organs and a Baldwin electric harpsichord that was manufactured from 1966 to the early Seventies. In addition to a pair of Saft originals and a few group improvisations, the trio’s typically eclectic repertoire includes a Bill Evans tune, a piece by the late Roswell Rudd, a couple of standards (Moonlight in Vermont and Alfie), and the title track, a song originally performed by the Moving Sidewalks, a Texas band from the late Sixties which was founded by future ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons. Evans’ tribute to producer Orrin Keepnews, Re: Person I Knew, kicks things off in surprisingly upbeat fashion. Dark Squares, the first improvisation, is well-titled for this somber investigation, showcasing Previte’s delicate cymbals and Swallow’s careful bass. Water From Breath is another improvisation, a sort of funky blues with a moody Saft out in front. Clocking in at just over six minutes, You Don’t Know the Life is the longest piece of the set. As played here, it’s a slow-moving dirge performed with impeccable grace by the trio. Previte’s tom-toms take the lead for a brief look at Rudd’s Ode to a Green Frisbee, with snaky organ lines by Saft. Two of Saft’s original compositions follow, The Cloak, an energetic romp, and Stable Manifold, an orderly blues line that rolls right along. The meanderingly self-absorbed The Break of the Flat Land is the last of the collective improvisations and the least interesting piece. Things get back on track with a finger-snapping version of Moonlight in Vermont, a favorite of jazz musicians since it was introduced by Margaret Whiting in 1944. A faithful version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Alfie concludes this largely satisfying excursion by this redoubtable trio.
RareNoise RNR101; Jamie Saft (Hammond org, Whitehall org, Baldwin elec harpsichord) Steve Swallow (el b) Bobby Previte (d); NYC, January 2018; Re: Person I Knew/ Dark Squares/ Water From Breath/ You Don’t Know the Life/ Ode to a Green Frisbee/ The Cloak/ Stable Manifold/ The Break of the Flat Land/ Moonlight in Vermont/ Alfie; 41:14. www.rarenoiserecords.com