Since his return to ECM with “Easy Living” in 2003, the grand master of Italian jazz has gone from strength to strength, in a series of truly exceptional recordings including “Tati”, “The Words and The Days”, “The Third Man”, and “New York Days”. Enrico Rava is currently playing at a peak of lyrical invention, and his newest Italian quintet is amongst his strongest ensembles. Gianluca Petrella is retained from “The Words and the Days” line-up. Voted Rising Star Trombonist in the Down Beat Critics Poll of 2005, he has a front-line relationship with Rava which recalls Enrico’s affinity with Roswell Rudd back in the heyday of the New Thing. Fast-moving, quick-witted exchanges abound. Enrico has always encouraged younger musicians, and pianist Giovanni Guidi (born 1985) is a real find, a player of creativity and imagination: “When I notice the gifts of a young musician, I immediately involve him in my groups. This is not motivated by altruism,” Rava insists. “Giovanni Guidi is like Bollani and Petrella: he astounds me every time.” Bassist Gabriele Evangelista (b. 1988), another young player of promise, works splendidly alongside widely-experienced drummer Fabrizio Sferra, whose resume includes work with Chet Baker, Paul Bley and Kenny Wheeler. Material on “Tribe” includes new and old tunes by Rava and a brace of collective improvisations. The album was recorded at Arte Suono Studio in Udine in October 2010, with Manfred Eicher producing.
Tribe
Enrico Rava Quintet
- 1Amnesia
04:34 - 2Garbage Can Blues
03:34 - 3Choctaw
05:38 - 4Incognito
10:00 - 5Cornettology
08:16 - 6F. Express
07:32 - 7Tears For Neda
06:16 - 8Song Tree
03:36 - 9Paris Baguette
03:39 - 10Planet Earth
03:04 - 11Tribe
05:00 - 12Improvisation
03:37
There's probably some arcane formula that proves the presence of trumpeter Enrico Rava, trombonist Gianlucca Petrella and young pianist Giovanni Guidi on the same session equals five stars. Petrella and Guidi made the fine We Don't Live Here Anymore album earlier this year, and this sextet with Rava – for many years one of Miles Davis's most authoritative disciples – creates an enchanting album of luxuriant brass textures, alluring ballads, bursts of twisting postbop and memorable soloing. There are slow-shifting songs that turn with a Kenny Wheeler-like poignancy or Carla Bley´s wry romanticism, trumpet solos over quietly hustling backdrops, blustery free-jazzy episodes and samba-like sleepwalks. Rava's high sounds and Petrella's voice-like phrasing combine with a spellbinding melody to make Tears for Nada a gorgeous contemporary-jazz ballad, while the title track is unexpectedly funky, and Guidi plays like an abstract Herbie Hancock.
John Fordham, The Guardian
With Tribe he has achieved its apotheosis, for the compositions and performances here achieve a breadth of content and mood that touches upon the divine. I´m not going to single out particular tracks - what is important is the flow and unfolding of musical ideas. One hears echoes of both Rota and Morricone, those two Italian giants of film composing. One catches glimpses of the music of the Balkans and North Africa that was washed up on Italy´s shores over the centuries and of the Italian brass band tradition. That one hears all this filtered through a sensibility shaped by Miles and Ornette is but a further tribute to Rava. This may well be his best record yet.
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise
Having long maintained genius reviews, “Tribe” finds prolific Italian jazz trumpet legend and elder statesman Enrico Rava at the top of his lyrical game. A staunch disciple of the legendary Miles Davie, Rava assembled a new quintet for a release of emotional depth and texture, along with some surprises in comparison to the more introspective “New York Days” (ECM, 2009). Musical mystery unfolds with gorgeous ballads, bursts of sonic fury and engaging solos at times dancing closet o the free jazz edge without ever pushing over the sonic cliff. […] “Tribe” is the musical portait of an artist still committed to creative enlightenment and the opportunità to share that gift with the world.
Brent Black, All About Jazz
It’s one of the strongest albums of Rava’s career, and certainly his best since returning to ECM in 2003 after a quarter century hiatus.
John Kelman, All about Jazz
Tribe reveals a Rava who is still searching, still challenging his creative possibilities and, as ever, those around him. On trumpet, Rava has never sounded better or more focused. The scintillating playing from the new blood also confirms that change for Rava is indeed, as good as a rest. There´s plenty of creative juice left in Rava´s tank.
Ian Patterson, All About Jazz
Tribe è un album dalla cifra expressiva notevole. Si tratta di dodici brani suonati in maniera deliziosa, fortemente avvolti in atmosfera buie e in taluni casi rarefatte, che si mantengono in costante equilibrio tra forme stilistiche difficilmente collocabili e una forte cantabilità dei temi. (...) Rava arricchisce l´intero lavoro grazie alle suo inconfondibile modo di condurre la band, con le sue pennellate che in certe situazioni accarezzano il tema, rendendolo commestibile, mentre in altre rilasciano dei graffi che lacereno in maniera decisiva l´intelaiuatura melodica.
Roberto Pavigliantiti, All About Jazz
The gran master of Italian jazz trumpet returns with a young new quintet and some slow-burning, deeply lyrical performances. They kick off with the lovely, free-floating `Amnesia´, and explore the beatific vein on the likes of `Incognito´, the open-spaced `Choctaw´ and `Tears for Neda´, while putting a flame to the tempo on the fiery `Cornettology´ and `Garbage Can Blues´.
Tim Cumming, The Independent
Der Trompeter Enrico Rava versteht sich mit seiner Musik bestens darauf, die macht der Bilder, die Dichte von Emotionen und die unterschiedlichsten Ereignisse des Alltags in poesievolle Sounds umzuwandeln. Das spürt man auch in jeder seiner Kompositionen, die er auf “Tribe” im Quintett mit italienischen Spitzenmusikern vorstellt, darunter der Posaunist Gianlucca Petrella und der Pianist Giovanni Guidi.
Jazzthing
Ruggiti da gagliardo Re Leone tra i giovani del nuovo branco. Davvero spettacolosa questa sorta di “suite” in cui Rava sfoga l’eterno amore per la melodia, in composizioni tutte sue, quali inedite quali storici recuperi. [...] Ma, ci sia da inventare o da assecondare il clima voluto dal leader, la creativa tribù funziona a meraviglia: eccellenti gruppo e singoli.
Maletto, Musica Jazz
Avec Tribe, dont Enrico Rava signe toutes les compositions, le trompettiste italien atteint un nouveau sommet, poussant encore plus loin le raffinement. Chaque note est ciselée, lustrée, rien n´est superflu. Ce pourrait être ennuyeux, c´est somptueux. On se délecte de la légèreté, la fluidité, on admire l´économie et l´équilibre. Les musiciens italiens dont Rava s´est entouré adhèrent au discours, mention spéciale au pianiste Giovanni Guidi pour sa délicatesse et à Gianluca Petrella, le tromboniste complice avec qui le dialogue est une évidence.
Patrick Artinian, So Jazz
A 72 ans, il n’a plus rien à prouver, mais tout à donner. Son moteur, c’est l’étonnement. La griffe de la jeunesse. Dès qu’il remarque une pousse d’avenir, son reflexe est de l’inviter à rejoindre son quintet où brille toujours ce nouvel as de la coulisse qu’est Gianluca Petrella. (...) Après le départ de Stefano Bollani, la surprise vient ici de l’arrivée d’un pianiste de 26 ans, Giovanni Guidi. Un nom à vraiment retenir. Comme dans ses précédents albums ECM, Enrico joue aujourd’hui la carte du lyrisme apaisé, célébrant, sans pathos ni narcissisme, avec une force sereine et une tranquille urgence, le triomphe du bel canto dans tous ses éclats. Avec cette sonorité bleue, ourlée d’émotion sensuelle, il sait donner à sa trompette ce grain de voix magique immédiatement identifiable. (...) Mais les merveilles de `Tribe´ sont des originaux. Comme `Incognito´, méditation envoûtante, lente et longue de dix minutes avec un Petrella éblouissant. Mais aussi `Song Tree´ pour son orientalisme minimaliste, `Paris Baguette´ pour sa nostalgie suavement gouailleuse et surtout `Tears for Nada´, déchirante mélodie toute simple qu’on s’empresse de réécouter dès la première écoute. C’est là que se cache tout le mystère du ravissement Rava.
Pasqual Anquetil, Jazzmag
Von überragender Technik, mit dem wachen Ohr für die fortlaufende Harmonik und deren vorsichtige Weitung arpeggiert (Giovanni Guidi) seine Akkorde. Ein wenig harfenhaft klingt das und ist doch der ideale Nährboden für Ravas luftiges Spiel. Denn das scheint die selbst gestellte Aufgabe des abgeklärten Altmeisters Enrico Rava zu sein: der Schönheit mit großer Klarheit ins Auge zu blicken, ohne dem Kitsch zu verfallen.
Tilman Urbach, stereo
Petrella and Rava, as might be expected by anyone who´s heard the 2007 Rava recording, The Words and the Days, are a peerless combination, but it is Rava´s ravishing lyricism, his pure, burnished tone infused with both warmth and a hint of human vulnerability, that makes this consistently absorbing, musicianly album so special.
Chris Parker, London Jazz
On a envie d´ecrire: `juste beau!´
La Voix du Nord
Enrico Rava possède cette grâce de se projeter dans tout nouveau disque avec un élan ravivé. Ce qui n´empêche pas ses fidèles de déceler certaines constantes qui définissent sans l´immobiliser un universe identifiable, cohérent jusqu´en ses métamorphoses. (…) Giovanni Guidi occupe désormais le tabouret de pianiste, où il crée la surprise en se mettant au diapason instantané du boss dont il aiguise encore le goût de l´errance gourmande.
Le Temps
Un Enrico Rava più creativo e poetico che mai, una tromba di nuovo capace di disegnare silenzi. Supportato da un quartetto di musicitsti che è quanto di meglio si possa trovare nel panorama jazz attuale, e non soltanto italiano. Dodici brani da assaporare lentamente, più volte per scoprire nota dopo nota gli echi dì atmosfere modali che rimandano al Davis del secondo quintetto, rese ancora più vive e attuali da un piano diabolicamente creativo e da un trombone sempre pronto al dialogo con la tromba. E dalla chitarra di Giacomo Ancillotto. Tribe si presenta come uno dei più riusciti progetti jazz degli ultimi anni.
Paolo Odello, L´Unita
Enrico joue aujourd’hui la carte du lyrisme apaisé, célébrant, sans pathos ni narcissime, avec une force sereine et une tranquille urgence, le triomphe du bel canto dans tous ses éclats. Avec cette sonorité bleue, ourléen d’émotion sensuelle, il sait donner à sa trompette ce grain de voix magique immédiatement identifiable.
Pascal Anquetil, Jazz Magazine
Eine der schönsten CDs des auslaufenden Jahres.
Peter Rüedi, Weltwoche
Hier ist ein ganz und gar nicht alt wirkender Altmeister am Werk, dessen abgeklärtes Musizieren offensichtlich auch auf die jüngste Generation exzellenter Musiker ausgesprochen inspirierend wirkt. Ein Hörvergnügen!
Kultur
Beeindruckend an Rava ist sein Ton, seine Poesie, sein Timing. Es ist, als würde die instrumentale Musik Geschichten erzählen. Traumhaft!
MDR Figaro – Take Five CD Empfehlungen
Längst der elder statesman des italienischen Jazz, gelingt es Enrico Rava immer wieder, aufregend frisch zu klingen. Was er auf `Tribe´ mit atemberaubend lyrischen Linien, die der Trompeter immer wieder mit lodernden Feuerstößen aufbricht, in altersweiser Souveränität zu neuer Pracht führt. (…) Bei einigen Stücken zeichnet Giacomo Ancillotto feine Gitarrenklänge ins farbenreiche Spiel des in sich ruhenden Quintetts, dem mit `Tribe´ ein poetisches Meisterwerk gelungen ist.
Sven Thielmann, hifi&records
Titolo perfetto (al di là del brano omonimo), visto che l´identità sonora del gruppo è forte ed intima, fatta di legami sonori e di empatia: tribale. Da decenni Enrico Rava sa circondarsi di musicisti giovani e costruire insieme ad essi una musica che - riconoscibile, identitaria e strutturata - si colloca nel jazz contemporaneo senza manierismi. (...) Rava non vampirizza, ma orienta il quintetto con un carisma che l´accomuna a Miles Davis. Costruisce, così, una musica che presenta sviluppi e sorprese, sa giocare con il tempo, ha dinamica ed energia, è intensa ma mai compiaciuta, a volte con un sottile sneso di distacco ed ironia.
Luigi Onori, Il giornale della musica
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