New York’s Downtown scene of the 1980s/early 90s – chronicled last issue – did not lack for interesting bands, original approaches, and a level of creativity that took American critics by surprise, yet by the time everyone had caught-up with it, the scene had moved on.

Among some of the most interesting music to emerge from this explosion of talent was that created by drummer Bobby Previte which, for reasons of modesty that need not detain us, came to the attention of Tony Dudley-Evans, the former artistic programmer of Cheltenham Jazz Festival, who introduced him to UK audiences early on.

Empty Suits is a good example from Previte’s discography of the late 1980s and early 90s of his music that was underpinned by sound compositional logic, yet emerged sounding spontaneously conceived. Each composition had a myriad of influences swimming through it without being beholden to any. He had a knack of bringing together a disparate group of instrumentalists – here harp, pedal steel guitar, Hammond B-3, turntables, electronics, voice, acoustic instruments (alto, trombone, occasional piano) and the kitchen sink – yet somehow he found a way to make their sounds coalesce into an integrated Previte sound.

‘Across State Lines’ is a good example. Guitar power chords grab the attention, amid dense guitar and Hammond ensemble sounds where the pedal steel guitar announces the theme, against the emerging prominence of the Hammond B-3 and trombone. It’s a beguiling mix suggestive of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound against a double-time bongo rhythm, and half-time kit rhythm echoed by bass, a polyrhythmic stew that makes perfect sense. Even in moments of abstraction (for example, ’Gaboo’), the composer is in control.

As with so much Downtown music captured on recordings, they suggest enormous potential, yet with ensembles coming and going in a bat of the eye, much was never quite fulfilled.