The Voodoo Orchestra began in 1999 in the Tap Bar of the Knitting Factory in New York City. Every Tuesday night, Bobby Previte would assemble some of New York’s great improvisers to play the entirety of BITCHES BREW, the seminal 1970 recording by Miles Davis. Begun just for the sheer joy of playing this groundbreaking electric music, a buzz about the band soon started and they were recruited for the Vancouver and Saalfelden festivals, and opened the “Wall to Wall Miles” festival at Symphony Space in New York.
Previte continues this band today as a workshop for teaching students and local musicians. Armed with the charts that he transcribed from the records, he travels to locations around the world, rehearses the musicians for two days and directs them in a concert performance. The musicians who experience this are transformed overnight; many remark that playing this music is cathartic and life-changing. Previte’s Bitches Brew Project is the perfect vehicle for teaching musicians patience, thoughtfulness, deep listening, and above of all, how to banish fear from their playing.
The workshop band can be any size from six musicians onward, as the instrumentation is open ended. A perfect workshop or artist residency project.
The Voodoo Orchestra North wil be performing Bitches Brew on:
August 25, 2014