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Rating: Let's start from the outside: the cover features four names and they are not just any names. Enrico Rava, a trumpeter from Trieste with a decidedly transversal background; Miroslav Vitous, a Czech-born virtuoso double bassist already heard alongside sacred monsters such as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock as well as in the Weather Report; Franco D'Andrea, a pianist from Merano also coming from musical experiences and paths that are far from orthodox; Daniel Humair, a Swiss-born drummer but French by adoption, with experience alongside the greatest American and other jazz musicians.
You might wonder why talk about people and not the music... well, I've thought long and hard about it and I believe that the music captured in this work can hardly be separated from the personal journeys of the four individuals who produced it.
The pieces are based on free improvisation or at least a reduction to the bare essentials of the thematic part. This approach, which might initially suggest outcomes of a free nature, leads instead, thanks to the sensitivity of the four, to alternating atmospheres characterized by a certain expressive informality and of melodic episodes of great poetic value.
The greatness of the performers/improvisers in this case is explained through the control of the sound space: the ability to develop inspired ideas from nothing and then change suddenly just as the elaboration reaches saturation, the ability to manage roles by elegantly exchanging solo spaces, the masterful skill in sustaining the scene in moments of pure soloing that each instrument carves out for itself from time to time, the "encyclopedic" predisposition that spans a broad spectrum of music history, from Afro-American roots to European classical music.
The approach to music is totally different from the distinctly "American" one with which jazz is often identified: here it is evident that the references and paths are different (and this often makes the "purists" frown) to reach fully "modern" results.
A side note deserves the sound: the quality of the recording is very satisfactory and allows you to fully grasp the characteristics of the individual instruments, which is no small feat given that we are talking about leading figures of their respective instruments. It will thus be impossible not to be touched from time to time by Rava's dark and deep sound, D'Andrea's light yet gritty touch, Vitous's "outbursts" on the double bass, and Humair's inventive percussion.
Another side note goes to the price: I found it for €7.90 and I must honestly tell you that I would have gladly spent even triple for this work.
Enjoy listening then!
Enrico Rava - trumpet and flugelhorn | Miroslav Vitous - double bass | Franco D'Andrea - double bass | Daniel Humair - drums
Year of publication: 1989
Track list: Mode for Versace/F. Express/Small Events/Autoscontri/Merano/Flee Jazz/Quatre/Two on Quatre
Tracklist
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