Pianist/keyboardist Jamie Saft is pretty much the quintessence of the iconoclastic downtown New York jazz musician, if such a thing exists. He can be heard going back to his Hebrew roots in John Zorn's Masada, played keys in Dave Douglas' silent film-inspired electric Keystone ensemble, writing film scores, engineering in his own studio, or playing avant jazz (Plymouth), psych-metal (Metallic Taste of Blood) for this UK based label, RareNoiseRecords. His recent cosmic dub-jazz New Zion Trio album is well worth checking out. With that wealth of diversity to hand, it's not so surprising to hear his new piano trio album rooted in more familiar idiomatic languages – a dose of blues-rock and straightahead 1960s jazz. Especially when Saft is able to reinvigorate the music coming from these vintage sources. He is significantly assisted by the company he keeps, a high-class, innovative rhythm section of drummer and longtime collaborator Bobby Previte and the influential veteran electric bassist Steve Swallow. Swallow plays with his hallmark character with the bass buzzing and gliding along Previte's propulsive sense of groove. Made up of mostly Saft's compositions with the others chipping in, it's a set with spontaneity at its core, split between Saft's soul-jazz piano that reveals traces of Herbie Hancock on the one hand, and gospel and blues-rock on the other – inspired mostly by The Band and Bob Dylan (to whom he played tribute on a previous 2006 piano trio CD). Saft is no genius in the solo department, but The New Standard gives you plenty to get your teeth into and the sharply produced Swallow-Previte groove combo is as hip as they come.

Jazzwisespoke to Jamie Saft about the album

Was the process behind recording more spontaneous than pre-planned?

This album was most definitely a spontaneous effort. I provided a batch of simple compositional sketches as a starting point. Beginnings and endings are completely improvised and were not preconceived or discussed beforehand. We are extremely fortunate to also have Joe Ferla, five-time Grammy winning master engineer at the controls. Having Joe mixing the album on the spot live to two-track analogue [tape] inspired us as improvisers to be truly in the musical moment. There was no latency to the interactions, no fixing anything in the mix.

What was it like working together in this way with the awesome rhythm section of Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte ?

Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte each bring enormous depth and wisdom to rhythm section playing. The trio format allowed us each absolute freedom; deep trust and intuition provide the direction. When you have a rhythm section as intuitive and as wise as Swallow and Previte, there are truly no limits. Nothing is ever rushed or over-zealous. Nobody is trying to make something happen. Events can just simply exist and magic unfolds naturally. It's an ideal situation.

Can you tell me about the impact of Bob Dylan and the Band on the recording?

The album was recorded in my studio in the beautiful Catskill Mountains not far from the site of the original Woodstock Festival. Bob Dylan and The Band are the musical patron saints of the Catskills and really brought the rural feel of the Castkills out in their musics. I tried to give the same soulful sound – the sounds of the trees and the deep woods, dogs barking, crickets clicking, frogs croaking- to the compositions and to the sonic approach of the music.

What was the idea behind calling it The New Standard?

The New Standard to me refers to a ‘New Standard of Excellence’ as exemplified by the incredible playing, production, and manufacture of the album. We are thrilled that The New Standard has found such a great home on RareNoiseRecords out of the UK. Giacomo Bruzzo and Eraldo Bernocchi are producing albums on the absolute highest level. The New Standard will see release on both CD and 2 LP 180gram vinyl pressing. We were fortunate to achieve a fully analogue vinyl master. No computers at all ever touched the vinyl master. The vinyl master is simply stunning!