Jamie Saft

by Joslyn Layne
Inspired keyboardist Jamie Saft started appearing on an increasing number of NY-oriented jazz recordings as the '90s progressed. Born in Queens, New York, Saft studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University. At these schools, he studied with Paul Bley, Geri Allen, Cecil McBee and Joe Maneri; in addition to having composer and "piano technical guru" (as Saft described him) Burton Hatheway as a mentor. In 1993, Saft returned to New York and has since been performing a wide variety of music styles, from opera to jazz in a self-described bar band. In 1995, he was the piano soloist in the New York and Paris premieres (at the Lincoln Centre and MC93 Bobigny, respectively) of John Adams' opera I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky. Through the mid to late '90s he played Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, mini-Moog and bass in Bobby Previte's Latin for Travelers, available on Enja. Saft also plays accordion -- in the Peter Epstein Quartet and on Jerry Granelli's Enter a Dragon-- and the steel guitar. He has recorded and performed throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, and worked with John Zorn, Groove Collective, Marc Ribot, Drazy Hoops and many more. Saft also co-led a release with trumpeter Cuong Vu entitled Ragged Jack on the Avant label. In 1999, he was busy not only touring, but also recording a new album for Tzadik, with musicians including Chris Speed and Jim Black, both from Tim Berne's Bloodcount and Pachora. Sovlanut arrived in mid-2000.