(HUDSON, N.Y.) – The Voodoo Orchestra North, led by legendary jazz drummer, improviser and composer Bobby Previte and featuring many great upstate New York musicians, continues into the New Year its regular series of performances devoted to exploring the music of Miles Davis’s eternal electric jazz-funk masterpiece, “Bitches Brew,” at Club Helsinki Hudson, with jam sessions scheduled for Monday nights: December 23, January 20, and February 10, at 8pm. 

Since late summer 2013, the Voodoo Orchestra – a new band under the direction of recent Hudson transplant Bobby Previte – has been rocking Club Helsinki with classic music from Miles Davis’s electric period. Previte is endeavoring to create a new improvisational music scene with musicians who live and work in and around Hudson, with Helsinki Hudson as home base.

Reviewing the group’s debut last August, local music critic Seth Rogovoy wrote, “From the opening bars, you knew you were in the hands of a master… a scintillating musical journey… [that is] even better than the real thing.”

The December 23 show will feature Michael Kammers, electric piano; Jonathan Talbott, violin; Tony Jarvis, bass clarinet; Tony Kieraldo, Fender Rhodes keyboard; Josh Colow, electric guitar; Dave Dreiwitz, electric bass; Terence Murren, acoustic bass; Otto Hauser, drums; and Bobby Previte, drums and conductor.

One of the greatest works of the twentieth century, “Bitches Brew” – released in 1970 – changed the entire landscape of not only jazz but rock, funk, soul, and pop as well. Hailed as a masterpiece upon its release, it has proven even more influential in the fullness of time. “The Voodoo Orchestra North starts where ‘Bitches Brew’ left off, and begins anew,” says Previte.

Bobby Previte is a performer/composer whose work explores the nexus between composed and improvised music. A recipient of a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship for music, Previte is one of the seminal figures of the 1980s New York “Downtown” scene. His music has been labeled as “utterly original” by the New York Times, while the New Yorker says his ensembles “speak in visionary tongues” and the Village Voice calls him “a serious composer with the heart of a roadhouse rocker.”

Previte’s two hundred-plus original compositions have been recorded and released on Sony, Elektra, Rykodisc, Palmetto, New World, Ropeadope, Thirsty Ear, and Tzadik. Leading a plethora of diverse ensembles from his instrument, the drums, he constantly travels the world, presenting his music at clubs, concert halls, and festivals. He has collaborated with many of the leading lights in and beyond the world of music – from master composer John Adams to rock icon Tom Waits to the legendary filmmaker Robert Altman to Lenny Kaye, John Lurie, Elliott Sharp, Wayne Horvitz, Steven Bernstein, Charlie Hunter, Michael Tilson-Thomas and John Zorn.

Previte launched the original Voodoo Orchestra in the Tap Bar of New York City’s famed jazz club the Knitting Factory in 1999. Every Tuesday night, Previte and top jazz improvisers would assemble to play “Bitches Brew” in its entirety. The concept caught on, and Previte took the project to jazz clubs and festival stages around the world. Now that he has moved to Hudson, Previte is excited to begin again with a new slate of musicians drawn from the greater region: hence, the Voodoo Orchestra North.

For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.