Flo Rava

Enrico Rava - Noir (1996) {Label Bleu LBLC 6595}
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© 1996 Label Bleu | LBLC 6595
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Trumpet

Fittingly for a man born in the cosmopolitan city of Trieste, trumpeter Enrico Rava is as at home with formal music as with abstraction, and with straight-ahead jazz as with cutting-edge contemporary developments. Fronting a heavily rock-influenced, twin-guitar band here, he touches musical bases ranging from woozy tangos through floating, freeish pieces to relatively straightforward jazz and multi-textured jazz-rock in an album programmed as a species of ‘soundtrack’ to an accompanying cartoon booklet drawn by Francesco Tullio Altan.

L'Italien aux longs cheveux cendrés et à la moustache dorénavant immuable nous laisse à chaque note percevoir toute l'étendue de son jeu passionné. Issu du bop, qui continue de l'inspirer, et vétéran des sulfureuses batailles du free pour y avoir fait quelques incursions décisives, la voix d'Enrico Rava déchire délicatement le ciel pour rejoindre les plus belles étoiles en la matière, celles de Miles et de Chet naturellement… A la fois héritier et passeur, sans jamais se perdre dans la simple reproduction, il s'amuse sereinement des alternances souffle et silence, phrasé et mélodie, pour toucher à un lyrisme embrassant la pluralité des jazz et de ses amours.

Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939 in Trieste, Italy), is a prolific jazz trumpeter and arguably one of the best known Italian jazz musicians. He originally played trombone, changing to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri's Italian quintet in the mid-1960s; in the late 1960s he was a member of Steve Lacy's group. In 1967 Rava moved to New York City, and one month later became a member of the group Gas Mask, a group that had one LP on Tonsil Records in 1970. He has played with artists such as Carla Bley, Jeanne Lee, Paul Motian, Lee Konitz and Roswell Rudd. Chiefly an exponent of bebop jazz, Enrico Rava has also played successfully in avant-garde settings. His style may partly recall Kenny Wheeler's in its spareness and lightness of tone, albeit Rava's is harmonically simpler.

Stalwart Italian jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava introduces his new working quartet for this Wild Dance, joined by longtime playing partner trombonist Gianluca Petrella. Petrella contributed to Rava's three ECM post-millennium quintet albums Tribe (2011), The Words & The Days (2005) and Easy Living (2003). The basic quartet features a guitar rather than piano, recalling Rava's 1970s ECM recordings with John Abercrombie, The Pilgrim And The Stars (1975) and The Plot (1976). Guitarist Francesco Diodati is more of a texturalist in the Bill Frisell mode, contributing to the group sound in different ways from tune to tune. "I often prefer to hear a guitarist playing behind a soloist—not least because guitarists can't play chords with 10 fingers," Rava jokes.

2 Blues For Cecil features three legends of modern improvised music, trumpeter Enrico Rava, bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Rava and Cyrille are among the elders of improvised music with their careers going back to the 1960s whereas Parker rose to prominence during New York's loft jazz era of the 1970s. The three musicians share one major link in their respective careers. Namely, they all have, at various times, been members of Unit or other ensembles of another legend, the late pianist Cecil Taylor. Enrico Rava, William Parker and Andrew Cyrille first performed together as a trio in tribute to Cecil Taylor, with Taylor himself present, at the Whitney museum in April 2016 as part of an exhibit/program under the heading "Open Plan: Cecil Taylor." 2 Blues For Cecil was recorded on February 1 and 2 at Studio Ferber in Paris following the trio's concert on December 31, 2020 under the heading "Tribute to Cecil Taylor" as part of the Sons D'Hiver festival in Paris.

The neo-noir textures of Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava's fine ECM release, NEW YORK DAYS, recall evocative, jazz-based film scores such as Gato Barbieri's LAST TANGO IN PARIS or Miles Davis's ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS. Joined by a stellar cast, including the fine pianist Stefano Bollani, contemporary tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, and the apparently ageless Paul Motian on drums, Rava conjures a rain-soaked, black-and-white urban fantasia on a finely produced, 77-minute set of moody originals. Rava, Turner, and Bollani are all strong stylists, however, so there is little danger of their being fully submerged in the impressionistic dark waters.

Flo & Eddie - The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie & Flo & Eddie (1972-1973) {2CD Set FloEdCo MFO 48001 rel 2008}
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© 1972-73, 2008 Reprise / FloEdCo | MFO 48001
Rock / Sunshine Pop / Comedy Rock / AM Pop / Power Pop

This two-fer from Manifesto features a pair of out of print LPs by Turtles vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (aka Flo & Eddie): The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie and Flo & Eddie, originally issued on Reprise in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Highlights among the 23 tracks include "Goodbye Surprise," "Another Pop Star's Life," "Marmendy Mill," and a cover of the Small Faces classic "Afterglow." Here's a really nice 2fer I just picked up, Flo & Eddie's first two releases in one package. I used to love the Turtles when I was a growing boy, then they showed up on Frank Zappa's Fillmore East 1971 opus and hilarity ensued. After leaving the Mothers, Flo & Eddie released their own stuff, these are the first two of their humorous output. A more extensive bio is listed below. Have fun.