Biography
Swami LatePlate functions as an experimental jazz and improv duo featuring drummer and composer Bobby Previte together with pianist, organist, keyboardist, and composer Jamie Saft. Both musicians share a fixation on modern heavy metal. They formed the Swami LatePlate project specifically to generate contemporary, refined, and investigative jazz shaped by the structural principles of doom metal, while Saft simultaneously covered electric bass. Each has held a central position in New York City’s downtown scene and beyond, operating as bandleaders and recording artists while also serving as prolific sidemen who have accumulated hundreds of credits apiece and have collaborated repeatedly.
Their 2007 release, titled Doom Jazz, first appeared as a digital issue from Previte before receiving a physical edition on Saft’s Veal Records and later being licensed to Italy’s Subsound for European distribution. The compositions unfold at a measured yet forceful tempo, built on straightforward themes sustained by basslines kept under tight dynamic and dramatic control and embellished by crystalline piano work alongside Previte’s resourceful drumming, in which cymbal vibrations and rim shots initially stand out before receding into background texture and naturally dissipating ahead of the next strike. Although the music contains no metal elements whatsoever, the doom-metal inspiration integrated directly into modern vanguard jazz, and the album’s sound drew acclaim for its luminous harmonic clarity.
After the record came out, the pair performed a few concerts before returning to separate careers, convening again whenever schedules allowed. Beyond Doom Jazz they produced several further key albums together. While Previte participated, Saft guided 2009’s Black Shabbis, a jazz endeavor closely related to Doom Jazz and strongly influenced by Black Sabbath. In 2014 the two issued The New Standard as part of a trio completed by bassist Steve Swallow. The same trio joined vocalist Iggy Pop for 2017’s The Loneliness Road. In 2020 they released Music from the Early 21st Century in another trio that included guitarist Nels Cline. Sixteen years after their debut, the Swami LatePlate duo returned in October 2023 with DoomJazz II: Deception on Subsound.
Their 2007 release, titled Doom Jazz, first appeared as a digital issue from Previte before receiving a physical edition on Saft’s Veal Records and later being licensed to Italy’s Subsound for European distribution. The compositions unfold at a measured yet forceful tempo, built on straightforward themes sustained by basslines kept under tight dynamic and dramatic control and embellished by crystalline piano work alongside Previte’s resourceful drumming, in which cymbal vibrations and rim shots initially stand out before receding into background texture and naturally dissipating ahead of the next strike. Although the music contains no metal elements whatsoever, the doom-metal inspiration integrated directly into modern vanguard jazz, and the album’s sound drew acclaim for its luminous harmonic clarity.
After the record came out, the pair performed a few concerts before returning to separate careers, convening again whenever schedules allowed. Beyond Doom Jazz they produced several further key albums together. While Previte participated, Saft guided 2009’s Black Shabbis, a jazz endeavor closely related to Doom Jazz and strongly influenced by Black Sabbath. In 2014 the two issued The New Standard as part of a trio completed by bassist Steve Swallow. The same trio joined vocalist Iggy Pop for 2017’s The Loneliness Road. In 2020 they released Music from the Early 21st Century in another trio that included guitarist Nels Cline. Sixteen years after their debut, the Swami LatePlate duo returned in October 2023 with DoomJazz II: Deception on Subsound.
Albums