John Previti

Award-winning bassist John Previti grew up in the Southern Maryland-D.C. area immersed in the region’s bubbling cauldron of musical styles: swing, country, jazz, R&B, soul, and the roots of rockabilly. In 1976, he met guitar great Danny Gatton. Danny liked his playing so much he invited John to join the new band he was starting. That group went on to make guitar history and John became Danny's bass player for the next eighteen years. 

 

In addition to Danny Gatton, John has played with a number of amazing musicians. The list includes Paul Simon, Doc Cheatham, Charlie Byrd, Joey DeFrancesco, Buddy Emmons, Herb Ellis, Les Paul, Emmylou Harris, Arlen Roth, Johnny Winter, Buddy Charleton, Chick Hall Jr., Dale Watson, Bill Kirchen, Billy Hancock, Big Joe Maher, Brooks Tegler,  Joe Walsh, Greg Bissonette, Barrett Deems, T-99 Nelson, Floyd Dixon, Jimmy McCracklin, Lenny Breau, Bill Watrous, Steve Abshire, Bernard Sweetney, Alan Vaché, John McCutcheon, Rick Whitehead, Barry Hart, Junior Watson and many others. 

 

John Previti has the distinction of receiving two Washington Area Musicians Awards in 2003 – one for best jazz instrumentalist in the Metro area, and another for best jazz recording for his cd Swinging Lullabyes for My Rosetta.

 

Here are some of John’s more recent projects and performances:

 

John played at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in May 2022 with the Dr. Ben Redwine Jazz Trio, with Ben Redwine on clarinet and Tom Mitchell on guitar.

 

Since February 2022, John has co-hosted a radio program with Bryan Reichhardt on Takoma Park radio station WOWD 94.3, called DC Roots: Guitar Edition. The show features the music of local guitarists.

 

In 2019, Tony Norris, owner of Bertha’s in Baltimore invited John to join the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra. John enjoys performing with the orchestra around the Baltimore area. 

In September 2015, John became involved in creating the Anacostia Delta documentary. As musical director of the project, he put together a performance at the Birchmere featuring 30 local musicians honoring Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Chick Hall Sr., and Joe Stanley. The Birchmere concert was the starting point of the documentary. The Anacostia documentary DVD was released in 2021 and has been aired on Maryland Public Television.