Battaglia

This quartet session features the compositions of bassist Paolino Dalla Porta and pianist Stefano Battaglia, along with Kenny Wheeler's trumpet and flugelhorn solos and drummer Bill Elgart's rhythmic support. While Porta has solid technique and excellent tone, and Battaglia offers a reasonable approximation of Keith Jarrett's playing style, this date doesn't quite manage to inspire. That's mostly due to Wheeler, whose playing wavers and occasionally falters. His flugelhorn solos are more mellow, better executed and successful, but as the principal soloist outside the rhythm section, he's not always up to the task on this date.

Milanese pianist and composer Stefano Battaglia has walked on both sides of the classical and jazz street with ease and comfort. Whether performing Bill Evans or Pierre Boulez, he plays with integrity and authority. The double-disc Raccolto is his ECM debut, and he performs in two different settings to illustrate his tremendous gifts as both an improviser and a composer. His romantic leanings and sometimes pointillistic playing reveal his influences, from Evans to Paul Bley to Keith Jarrett. He carries his mentors with ease inside his gig bag. Disc one showcases Battaglia in a jazz trio setting with bassist Giovanni Maier and percussionist Michele Rabbia (who plays on both discs).