(Modern Creative / Fusion / Avant-Prog / Free Funk) Bobby Previte - The Coalition of the Willing - 2006, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Bobby Previte has been full of surprises during his long and quirky career as a musician's musician. Whether playing swing, hard bop, or vanguard free jazz, or playing electronic drums and keyboards in space-age jams with Charlie Hunter, he's never failed to ignite whatever project he's been part of. Coalition of the Willing is a different animal altogether. Previte's new offering employs a core of musicians including guitarist Hunter and Jamie Saft on keyboards while bringing in players such as trumpeter Steve Bernstein, Latin for Travelers' Stew Cutler on harmonica and slide guitar, and saxophonist Skerik. The music runs rabbit-like all over the map. This is militant music made by a militant composer. It's rock music for a different age -- one that is scarier, angrier, and more put-upon to just surrender than any in memory. The set opens with a hard-driven organ and guitar duel in "The Ministry of Truth," which is space-age surf music. The spaced-out jazz-rock of "Airstrip One" is a startling change of pace, but it too gets upended in the funky roots rock of "Versificator." "The Ministry of Love" -- with Hunter just losing it -- is simply über acid rock & roll that becomes undone when the jangly 12-string-driven "Oceania" drops deep into Middle Eastern dub reggae abut halfway through. Then there are the noir-ish country soundtrack atmospherics in "The Inner Party," which get stranger and more atmospheric in "Memory Hole," as Bernstein and Cutler take turns delightfully out-weirding each other. The set closes with "Anthem for Andrea," a bona fide instrumental rock anthem worth every bit of the Pete Townshend dynamics it wears on its sleeve, with Skerik's saxophone solo juxtaposed against Saft's keyboards and Bernstein's beautifully repetitive solo. All the while, through all of these cuts, Previte directs from the trap kit. He's fully Bobby Previte without being anything like the Previte you would recognize. He's the same but somehow new as a rock & roll musician with not only chops but a fertile and unhinged imagination. And this disc -- the latest in the Ropeadope label's scintillating series of provocative offerings -- is one of those winners that in five years, no matter how often you've heard it, will yield something new. ~ Thom Jurek, AMG

It is often said that in youth one is more idealistic and liberal, and with age comes pragmatism and social conservatism. Well, someone ought to tell Bobby Previte, because it seems he missed the memo. A downtown scene luminary, composer and percussionist extraordinaire, Previte pushes ever further a field with The Coalition of the Willing. When most musicians his age would consider thinking about recording a standards program or a ballad session, Previte, ever the contrarian, does just the opposite.
Charting the developmental course of Previte and guitarist Charlie Hunter, his dedicated duo partner since the beginning of the new decade, proves enlightening. In their formative years, both enjoyed the turbulent blues and rock music of their youth before building "respectable" jazz careers. Gradually, each musician began reincorporating those youthful elements into their work, but never as prominently as they have recently. On this album they delve even further into the sounds of their past for inspiration for the future. And the future sounds great.
With its focus on soaring, major-key melody tempered by the occasional hint of weary melancholy, Previte's writing is perfectly suited to rousing, revolutionary anthems. He revisits and reinterprets a number of his classic themes here to excellent effect. Adding dense electronic textures and raw improvisation to Previte's driving rhythms, which veer from boisterous, futuristic blues jams and grooving funk vamps to ethereal, dub inspired psychedelic soundscapes, the Coalition roams unfettered.
The band is an all-star ensemble, including saxophonist Skerik, Sex Mob trumpeter and arranger Steven Bernstein, bluesy harmonica and slide guitar player Stew Cutler, and occasional drummer Stanton Moore. The core group consists of Previte's two most dedicated collaborators. Charlie Hunter's twangy distorted lead dominates, and producer and vintage keyboardist Jamie Saft smears his signature analog sound all over the record. The basic template derives from the core trio's driving, experimental, roadhouse blues band aesthetic.
This new lineup combines classic elements of Previte's previous flagship bands. The electric Empty Suits band debuted a number of the thematic motifs expressed here, and his guitar-heavy, avant-bar band Latin For Travellers also featured Saft and Cutler. The new ensemble shares many similarities with that group, but it rocks harder, harder even than his recent Groundtruther project.
Drawing on key elements from George Orwell's 1984 as fodder for song titles and liner notes, Previte insinuates revolutionary politics with this instrumental album. While the success of such endeavors is generally more respected than realized, Previte has succeeded in providing a raucous soundtrack for an unlikely, but much needed revolution. ~ Troy Collins, AAJ

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 12. August 2009, 0:15
Bobby Previte / The Coalition Of The Willing
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Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Igor\My Documents\My Music\eac\Bobby Previte - The Coalition of the Willing.wav
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