CD ECM Records Enrico Rava Quintet: The Words And The Days

2007

Enrico Rava - trompeta
Gianluca Petrella - trombon
Andrea Pozza - pian
Rosario Bonaccorso - contrabas
Roberto Gatto - tobe

“Italy has yet to produce a more accomplished jazz musician than the trumpeter Enrico Rava. Since the late 1960s, when he was a presence on New York’s thriving avant-garde scene, Mr Rava has earned a reputation for incisive instincts and an appealingly burnished tone. Somewhere along the line, he became both a part of Italian popular culture and, more meaningfully, a mentor to many of his country’s best aspiring players.”
Nate Chinen, New York Times

“The Words and the Days”, the new quintet album by Enrico Rava, picks up where “Easy Living” left off. Rava’s widely acclaimed return to ECM in 2003 was not only a reintroduction to one of European jazz’s most elegantly inventive players, it was also a significant showcase for a real band. This is no less striking on “The Words and the Days”: with team-spirited pianist Andrea Pozza replacing virtuosic soloist Stefano Bollani, the group’s sense of purpose is redoubled. Securely anchored in the tradition, rhythmically-assured and flexible, the quintet is able to react instantly to Rava’s changing moods. One of the particular pleasures is Enrico’s creative rapport with trombonist Gianluca Petrella – arguably Rava’s most compatible frontline partner since the days when Rava and Roswell Rudd pooled personnel for their respective bands, but the whole group is in fine form throughout.

Repertoire, otherwise, is composed by Rava, save for “Traps” by drummer Roberto Gatto, bassist Rosario Bonaccorso’s “Sogni proibiti” (forbidden dreams), and the standard “The Wind” – the Russ Freeman tune which Chet Baker used to play. Enrico’s “Echoes of Duke” conjures the Ellington of the Cotton Club years, at least in its early moments, while “Serpent” is an undulating piece whose unpredictable trajectory brings late 60s Miles to mind – yet all these are unmistakably stamped with Rava’s musical personality. The title track is a particularly affecting instance of his vaulting melodic flair in a free ballad context, “Secrets” a piece he has returned to over the years... In all, a rich and varied programme.

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Jazz Review - Editor’s Choice; Stereoplay - Die Audiophile; Audio - Jazz-CD des Monats; Rondo - Jazz-CD des Monats; Jazzman - Choc du mois; Classica - L’événement jazz du mois; Jazz Magazine - Disque démoi

One of the most charismatic of jazz musicians, Enrico Rava has truly hit a purple patch in his career – he’s got a great band, he’s with the best label in the world and he’s making the finest music of a long, distinguished career. … This music will make you feel good about the world, maybe because it gives voice to all those values that however downtrodden won’t go away. I could tell you that this track is ballad, that one uptempo and this one has a Latin feel. But it deserves better than that. Simply, they should distil this, bottle it and serve it everywhere. A wizard and a true star.
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise

The Words and The Days captures the crystalline simplicity and all-encompassing moods of both this Italian trumpeter and his label. The disc’s opening features long tones, an echo, falling-water piano and scattershot drums. It’s an ambient mediation, gorgeous and precious. … Enrico Rava’s sound is king: a singing, sweeping tone, stretching from an almost classical purity to deep Miles Davis. … Still, the quintet’s book is far broader than this. They play Don Cherry’s “Art Deco” and Russ Freeman’s “The Wind”. Rava’s own “Echoes Of Duke” is a paean to Cotton Club-era Duke Ellington, and his “Secrets” with its great, surging pulse, feels like a direct descendant of Herbie Hancock’s “I Have A Dream”. The album’s core sound rests with the two-horn lead: Rava and trombonist Gianluca Petrella. They’re a marvellous pair.
Greg Buium, DownBeat

Rava’s long and distinguished career has followed a similar trajectory to that of labelmate Tomasz Stanko, whose recent all-Polish quartet Rava’s new group so closely mirrors. Each leader brings an authoritative voice, vast experience and a similar range of influences, all of which are distilled and magnificently realised by a highly in-tune set of musicians. … A release of great warmth and uplifting beauty, this is every bit as essential as any of Stanko’s recent highs, and Manfred Eicher can be very proud of both.
Fred Grand, Jazzreview