Label Bleu has already issued the group version of Enrico Rava's appearance at the 2001 Montreal jazz festival, dedicated to the music of Miles Davis. This is the other half of the story, in which the Italian trumpeter is paired with Stefano Bollani, the pianist who made such an impression on the same trip. Bollani's contribution to the previous set was remarkable for its bold excursions into thunderous yet startlingly precise free improvisation, which never neglected the interests of the band.
Here, Rava quietly smoulders in an almost Chet Baker-like manner on some of the slow music: he is sublime on Le Tue Mani against Bollani's discreetly encircling harmonies. He creeps up on The Way You Look Tonight and plays it at a light, dancing gait over the pianist's correspondingly airborne accompaniment, delivering the melody with tightly edited discretion. Then Bollani delivers streaming variations, flaring free explosions and stamping left-hand playing on the heated, compelling tango for Vasquez y Pepita.
The closer, Bandoleros, sounds like a Herb Alpert tune rearranged by Carla Bley and delivered into the hands of two instrumentalists who have never heard of either. Vivid, exuberant music. - John Fordham
Tracks
1. Theme For Jessica (E. Rava)
2. Le Tue Mani (Guiseppe Spotti)
3. The Way You Look Tonight
4. Amore Baciami (Carlo Alber)
5. Tango For Vasquez Y Pepita (E. Rava)
6. Certi Angoli Segreti (E. Rava)
7. Le Solite Cose (E. Rava)
8. Bandoleros (E. Rava)
STEFANO BOLLANI piano
ENRICO RAVA trumpet, flugelhorn
Recorded live during the "Carte Blanche to Enrico Rava" at the Montréal Jazz Festival, 2001-07-04
Label Bleu - LBLC 6645