January 6th 5-7pm and 8-10pm January 7th 1-4pm and 8-10pm (additional hours may be added on Thurs Jan 5th)

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED! EXTREMELY LIMITED SEATING! RESERVE A 15-MIN SLOT!

TICKETS ARE FREE, but reservations are required. You will first arrive at a waiting area before going to Chashama. Complete information will be given to you when you make your reservation. Reserve a 15-minute slot: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/216009

Bobby Previte: Diorama is a solo drum set concert performed for one listener at a time at Chashama 266, an empty storefront in midtown Manhattan.

In Previte’s Diorama, each listener enters a small room and sits directly behind the drum set. Unaware of their identity, Previte plays an improvised 10-minute piece for his solo audience member. The strange, heightened intimacy of the interaction and the publicly exposed space create a concert of extremes and oppositions.

This performance/variable media art work was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Major support of the Franklin Furnace Fund was provided in 2010-11 by the Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation and Jerome Foundation. Space provide by chashama. A production of Art of Franza.

Drummer and prolific composer Previte first created Diorama in March 2010 as part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space program, where he performed it on the 31st floor of a landmark Wall Street building. “Not unlike a sex scene in a Milan Kundera novel…a totally weird experience.”

—Trevor Hunter, New Music Box

Artist bio

Bobby Previte’s first stage appearance came in 1956 at the Niagara Falls Talent Show, where, guitar in hand, and adorned in an over-sized suit, he belted out a solo rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog.’

Eight years later, thinking drumming might be a good way to get girls, he fashioned a bass drum from a rusted garbage can, a kick pedal from a wire coat hanger wedged between two pieces of linoleum and a rubber ball stuck on top, tom toms from upside-down trash bins, cymbals from aluminum pie plates suspended on plungers, and a box of loose junk for a snare – then practiced for a year in his dark basement with a lone spotlight shining on him before eventually starting a band, the “Devil’s Disciples.” But when they finally got a gig at the church he was fired for not having ‘real’ drums. Seeking revenge, he took a job as a paperboy, saved every penny, and a year later bought the Rogers kit he still uses today in concerts all over the world.

In 1968, while walking in the West Village, Previte spotted Jimi Hendrix in a limo. He quickly unfurled the Jimi poster he happened to have with him, and watched in amazement as Hendrix smiled and flashed Previte the peace sign.

All the rest, as they say, is noise.