Flo Rava

Easy Living marks the return of veteran composer and trumpeter Enrico Rava to the roster of Manfred Eicher's ECM label after a 17-year break. Rava is regarded by many as the father of modern Italian jazz, and on Easy Living it's easy to see why. Rava's consummate, innovative lyricism and subtle yet profound harmonic inquiry lie at the heart of the Italian music in all of its manifestations, from post- and neo-bop to free and avant-garde articulations. Recorded at home in Udine with the same band he's been gigging with for the past four years, Easy Living is a relaxed, low-key affair that is nonetheless fully engaged and deceptive in its pastoral appearance.

The PMJL Parco della Musica Jazz Lab, led by trumpeter Enrico Rava, brings together some of the most interesting musicians have gained momentum over the last few years. After having experimented with the music of Gershwin, Michael Jackson and Lester Bowie, the collective will face now the original repertoire of Enrico Rava, excellent composer of songs characterized by great swing and melody, with influences ranging from free to bop to the Argentine tango. All with new arrangements, entrusted by Rava saxophonist Dan Kinzelman.

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. At times, the sound resembles the post-bop chamber jazz of Miles's celebrated '60s quintet, at others, the upscale European strains of film composer Nino Rota or tango master Astor Piazzolla. Either way, New York Days is one of the outstanding jazz releases of 2009.

Their collaboration has been hailed as a summit meeting of two jazz masters. Enrico Rava, trumpeter from Trieste, and Fred Hersch, pianist from Cincinatti, share a deep affection for the tradition and a profound sense for melodic invention. In this recording, with flugelhorn and piano glowing in the superb acoustic of the Lugano studio, Rava and Hersch explore some much-loved standards: Jerome Kern’s “The Song Is You”, Thelonious Monk’s “Mysterioso” and “’Round Midnight”, Jobim’s “Retrato em Branco e Preto”, and George Bassman’s “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”. They also play their own tunes, Fred’s “Child’s Song” and Enrico’s “The Trial”, and improvise freely together. Enrico Rava has been an ECM artist for almost fifty years. The Song Is You is Fred Hersch’s first for the label. The album was recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in November 2021, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Recorded during a spellbinding performance in Italy at Jazz a Forlì in November 2024, La Giostra captures the magic of an unexpected yet natural meeting between two unique musical worlds. On one side, Guano Padano – Alessandro “Asso” Stefana, Zeno De Rossi, and Danilo Gallo – known for their evocative blend of cinematic desertscapes, western dust, and psychedelic jazz. On the other, Enrico Rava – a poetic and visionary composer who has graced the global jazz scene for decades with his unmistakable lyricism and fiery spirit.

Enrico Rava, long a key figure in European jazz, has been a mentor for successive generations of Italian players. His celebratory Edizione Speciale, recorded live at the Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, brings together a team of young improvisers who play his music with fire and élan, accompanying his fountain of melodic ideas, while also taking advantage of the free space that the extensive musical forms open up. The group’s repertoire includes material from the trumpeter/flugelhornist’s early recording Enrico Rava Quartet (1978) and Wild Dance (2015), plus a rendition of “Once Upon a Summertime” – the English version of Michel Legrand’s “La valse des lilas” – as well as the universally known Cuban song “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás”.