UMass Amherst Magic Triangle&Solos and Duos Jazz Series

Once you get beyond the 50 living artists most people know by name, the jazz world becomes murky in a hurry. Not less creative, mind you, but largely unknown, unseen and unheard. The fall Solos & Duos Series and it's spring counterpart, The Magic Triangle Jazz Series, are both dedicated to presenting musicians whose critical reputations exceed their place in the public eye. This is vast programming territory, both because that public eye has such poor peripheral vision, and because there are thousands of creative and original musicians, criss-crossing the world as we speak.

Over the past 15 years, it has been our privilege to link Ed Blackwell, William Parker, Sam Rivers, Lester Bowie, Andrew Hill, and dozens of other master musicians, with audiences in western Massachusetts. We do it in intimate surroundings, at an affordable price. Hope you can join us.

Doom Jazz
featuring Bobby Previte and Jamie Saft
Thursday, September 25
Bezanson Recital Hall 8:00 pm
$10/$5

In one sense a piano trio, with Previte on drums and Saft doubling on piano and electric bass, this project borrows from heavy rock sensibilities. Using doom - a slow, foreboding style of heavy metal - as a template, the duo crafts music that creeps along powerfully. "Bobby Previte is in many ways the archetypal 21st Century Musician," states The Penguin Guide, "open-eared, adventurous, uncategorizable and technically flawless." Saft's stylistic versatility, multi-instrumentalist capabilities, and production skills have been featured with The Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, The B-52's, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn and John Adams.