Enrico Rava: Italian Style

Enrico Rava (trumpet; b. 1939)

Enrico Rava's career spans over four decades and almost ever continent. Highly influenced by Miles Davis and Chet Baker, Rava has played with a long list of luminaries including, Don Cherry, Carla Bley, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp among others. His thick tones are both lush and bold, allowing the listener to become fully engaged in the melody.

For me he is one of the few trumpeters who has consistently has recorded excellent material throughout his career. I'm not saying there isn't a bad record in his over 40 album discography but you will be had pressed to be disappointed by even his weakest album (which ever one that my be). Rava toured with Steve Lacy during the late sixties which began to shape his style and performance.

Rava's earlier recordings are more in the European Free Jazz mode. But these are not necessarily "Free Jazz" in the Ornette Coleman or Don Cherry sense. Rava's style is rhythmic, emotional and leveled, that even the newest person to jazz would find it inviting. He has unique way of balance space and structure in his recordings that has always been something I've gravitated to time and time again. Rava's work in the 80s become much more structured and he gave more freedom to his follow band members which is still true today although his recent albums are also much more intimate.

Most of Enrico Rava's albums are surprisingly readily available either online or your local record store. I would say that his most recent quintet recording New York Days (ECM; 2009) is definitely the best place to start for anyone just getting into Enrico Rava. New York Days is both an adventurous impressionist journey as well as a relaxed midtempo excursion into a highly gifted set of musicians.

The quintet included seasoned and future legends; Paul Motian (drums), Mark Turner (sax) Larry Grenadier (bass) and Stefano Bollani (piano), each in their own right have become enormously respected musicians around the globe. Bollani and Motian have worked with Rava on numerous occasions and their performances here demonstrate a deep understanding the men must have as apparent on the lengthy "Certi Angoli Sergerti" which has some rich beautiful lyricism throughout.

Mark Turner and Larry Grenadier show their versatility and emotional depth on "Lulu" and "Outsider" respectfully. Both musicians develop a dialog with Rava is delicate and highly functional for this to be the first meeting in a studio setting. New York Days is a composed yet free flowing work that illustrates a whole range of talent among the musicians. It is also the lyrical piece of genius that Rava has conjured into existence that I believe in enjoyable amongst his most devoted fans like me as well anyone hearing him for the first time.

Some other essential Enrico Rava:

Il giro del giorno in 80 Mondi (Black Saint)
The Pilgrim And The Stars (ECM)
Rava String Band (Soul Note)
Plays Miles Davis (Label Bleu)
Easy Living (ECM)

What About Chet!?!

Chet Baker (trumpet; b. 1929 - d. 1988)

So I took a look back at some of my discussions over the past few months and realized I forgot to talk about Chet Baker. What the hell was I thinking!?! Chet Baker played in a style very similar to Miles Davis' early recordings--smooth, melodic and sophisticated. Nowhere near as adventurous as Miles, Chet still possessed the ability to craft a rhythm that was just as haunting and brilliant.

Chet Baker is quite regarded among jazz fans but remains somewhat a cult figure for those new to jazz. His unfortunate struggle with heroin destroyed his chances of really scaling the highest of Miles', Clifford Brown or Dizzy Gillespie. Chet Baker played in Charlie Parker's band early in his career before moving out on his own with the legendary piano-less quartet with Gerry Mulligan. Chet would later go on to form his own group and record a series of wonderful albums during the mid-fifties. His drug habit resulted in erratic recording dates throughout the rest of his career even though he still had ability to perform quite well.

There are so many compilations on Chet Baker it almost matches those of Miles Davis. The one I would recommend is Career: 1952-1988 (Shout Factory). It's hard to sum up a career as expansive as Chet's but this collection manages to touch on all the important points for any beginner. One of the things that really set Chet Baker apart from his contemporaries was not only his effortless ability on the trumpet, but also his warm, lush vocals that added to his mystic. Career: 1952-1988 captures both over the span of two discs. From his beautiful classic version of "My Funny Valentine" to the enchanting cover of Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue" this collection has exactly what you would need to learn about one the greatest and often overlooked genius' in jazz history. In addition, I would suggest you also check out Chet Baker's final studio session entitled Peace (Enja Records), recorded in 1988 which was a lovely return to form and a great testament to his legacy.