From the Broadway scrap heap to a widely interpreted jazz standard, “Darn That Dream” has had quite the journey.

“Woo!!!” And with that, we have “2” — the official total number of “Woo!”‘s in the ECM catalog. This one comes from Enrico Rava, as guitarist John Abercrombie unleashes a particularly intense solo passage. You May Also Like: Steve Million – ‘What I Meant to Say’ (2021) Bill Laswell, BernieRead More

We saw our share of standout instrumentalists, from Julian Lage to Rudresh Mahanthappa to Pat Martino. But, as this lists attests, 2011 might rightly be called the Year of the Big Band. You May Also Like: Julian Lage – ‘Squint’ (2021)

On his last outing, trumpet master Enrico Rava was in a New York state of mind. This time, for Tribe, his head, heart—and most notably—his entire band is firmly back in his native Italy. You May Also Like: Miles Davis, Billie Holiday + Others: Top 10 Versions of ‘Darn ThatRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Last year brought the welcome return of Enrico Rava’s 1975 masterwork The Pilgrim And The Stars to American shores for the first time in CD form. Only a few months later, we’re getting treated to a new set of recordings by Italy’s foremost jazz musician. NewRead More

by Pico Yesterday was a look back at what I thought were the best mainstream music releases of 2008. Now it’s time for the installment of this year’s “Best Of” series that’s my main bread and butter: straight ahead jazz. More records of that sort were covered in this spaceRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Last year we gave a testimonial to a new small-group Carla Bley album that featured a uber-talented Italian trumpeter by the name of Paolo Fresu. But as good as Fresu is, he’s not yet the king of Italian trumpeters. That’s because Enrico Rava is still wearingRead More