For some, jazz is an either/or: either it's deeply and clearly rooted in the American tradition, or it isn't jazz. What's not necessarily apparent with musicians seemingly distanced from that tradition is that it's an artistic choice that shouldn't be viewed as a lack of familiarity with the music's roots. Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava has spent a lifetime proving that jazz is an inclusive, rather than exclusive art form. There's plenty of room in the music for a broader view, something Rava makes clear on The Words and the Days.
Rava's quintet, last heard on Easy Living (ECM, 2004), remains intact with the exception of pianist Stefano Bollani, who left the group to more actively pursue his own career (and whose Solo Piano is being released by ECM on the same day). Andrea Pozza may be the quintet's newest member, but he feels right at home: a player with an elegant touch and spare yet multifaceted approach.
The chemistry of the quintet is unmistakable, especially on the ten-minute "Secrets," where the ebb and flow of Rava's solo highlights the group's effortless synergy. As in tune as the entire group is, the evolving relationship between Rava and trombonist Gianluca Petrella is most notable. It's not just in the nuanced delivery of the written parts, it's the way they support each other in a more spontaneous fashion that's both unexpected and ultimately inevitable.
The album opens in a space that some might characterize as stereotypically ECM. Spacious, and with pristine clarity? Yes, and with no small amount of European classicism. But while the surfaces are smooth and the edges round, Rava's characteristically warm tone is broken up occasionally by a harsher rasp. He may lean towards lyrical simplicity, but he's equally capable of energetic bursts that reference his early days in the free jazz community.
Most of the tunes belong to Rava. Bassist Rosario Bonaccorso contributes a dark bass solo, "Sogni Proibiti," while the balladic "The Wind" is a surprising contribution by smooth jazz fixture Russell Freeman; here Rava finds a good tune in the most unlikely of places.
Rava's "Echoes of Duke" breaks up the album's more atmospheric first half: still elegant and delicate, but with a stronger sense of swing. It foreshadows three later tunes, beginning with the late trumpeter Don Cherry's "Art Deco," which form a triptych, combined with drummer Roberto Gatto's "Traps" and Rava's "Bob the Cat," where the ensemble not only directly references the American tradition, but specifically its early New Orleans roots. Still, following Gatto's solo on "Bob the Cat" things return to impressionistic territory with the temporal elasticity of its final theme, the perfect segue to the album's closer, "Doctor Ra and Mr. Va," which brings things full circle.
The beauty of The Words and the Days is its ability to both delineate and assimilate approaches that some feel must be kept distinct and separate. Few albums demonstrate the continuum of jazz so well, making this another addition to Rava's already full list of musical milestones. - John Kelman
Enrico Rava's 2004 outing, Easy Living, marked not only his return to the ECM label after a 17-year absence, but the complete maturation of his quintet, which at that time had been gigging together for four years. The Words and the Days sees most of the same band return with one major chair: Rava's great foil, pianist Stefano Bollani who released his acclaimed solo piano album on the label, has been replaced by the fluid, more percussive Andrea Pozza. The program consists of seven Rava originals, a cover of Don Cherry's "Art Deco" performed as a wonderfully warm and spirited duet with trombonist Gianluca Petrella, one each by drummer Roberto Gatto ("Traps"), and bassist Rosario Bonaccorso ("Sogni Proibiti" ["Forbidden Dreams"]), and a version of Russ Freeman's "The Wind," written as a vehicle for the late Chet Baker. Typical of this quintet recording, Rava digs into the jazz tradition and brings to it his lyrical gift as a composer, an improvising soloist and an arranger. His reading of "The Wind" is a fine example. Keeping Baker's sparseness in phrase, he infuses it with the echoing presence of Petrella, playing just a shade behind the melody, and then playing only parts of it and adding a bit of humor and drama to the work to make it a bit noir-ish rather than a straight nostalgia piece. Gatto's dancing brush work adds to the present tense understanding of the tune and is underscored by Pozza's painterly piano lines. Only the bassline by Bonaccorso keeps the tune rooted in history.
Conversely, "Echoes of Duke," which immediately proceeds from it, is a firm case in point of Rava's view of jazz tradition as living in the present and pointing to the future. Using the scuttlebutt rhythmic impulses of the Jimmy Blanton-Ben Webster band and the lyric improvisation of Ellington's great brass frontliners, Rava nonetheless moves the tune just outside enough to be a new and sprightly read on the blues. "Serpent" is an abstract piece that roots itself in the skeletal remnants of Miles Davis' modal period in the mid- to late '60s. The blues are everywhere present, but they are stretched almost to the breaking point, and Pozza's commanding, empathic solo here is nearly breathtaking. The final piece, the nine-minute "Dr. Ra and Mr. Va," is the best example of the ensemble's inner dialogue, wrapping a minimal chart in grand poetic designs. Rava's solo offers hints as to where he wants the band to go, and they don't just follow, they end up on the frontline with him. It begins so warm and leisurely it's deceptive. There is a lot of spatial organizing going on here. Despite the chart, there are moments of improvisation happening in the lyric, and in its harmonic interpolation by Pozza and then Petrella. The tune is like a Möbius strip, changing places with itself throughout its length. Once more, Rava dazzles with his grasp of the languages of jazz: its textures, its rhythms, its dynamics and above all, of course, its secretive and inventive melodic improvisation. There is no let down here from Easy Living; The Words and the Days is a worthy companion that confidently stands not in the previous recording's shadow, but on a ledge of its own. - Thomas Jurek
Tracks
01. The Words And The Days (Enrico Rava)
02. Secrets (Enrico Rava)
03. The Wind (Russell Freeman)
04. Echoes Of Duke (Enrico Rava)
05. Tutù (Enrico Rava)
06. Sogni Proibiti (Rosario Bonaccorso)
07. Todamor (Enrico Rava)
08. Serpent (Enrico Rava)
09. Art Deco (Don Cherry)
10. Traps (Roberto Gatto)
11. Bob The Cat (Enrico Rava)
12. Dr. Ra And Mr. Va (Enrico Rava)
ROSARIO BONACCORSO double bass
ROBERTO GATTO drums
ANDREA POZZA piano
GIANLUCA PETRALLA trombone
ENRICO RAVA trumpet
Recorded December 2005 at Artesuono Recording Studio, Udine
ECM Records – ECM 1982 (Germany)