Jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava [2] is by far one of Italy’s contemporary national glories.

It’s not just because of his signature style -- which combines traditional atmospheres with a twist of fresh wryness, a pinch of burnished sensations and an intensely solid lyrical sound -- but especially because, in his 40 years of career, he helped a new generation of Italian jazz talents developing their own sound, while they infused Rava’s music with new flavors and charms.

Rava’s talent scouting skills birthed musical phenomena such as pianist Stefano Bollani [3], trombonist Gianluca Petrella and guitarist Roberto Cecchetto, just to mention a few. His latest finds are two extremely young performers: pianist Giovanni Guidi, born in 1985, and even younger bassist Gabriele Evangelista, born in 1988.

The two artists, under Rava’s leadership, together with jazz veterans Gianluca Petrella and Fabrizio Sferra, released “Tribe,” the quintet’s first album.

Rava’s new record is an intergenerational work, full of fresh improvisations and multifaceted expressions. Everything is well harmonized with Rava’s main influences, Miles Davis and Chet Baker, and those free avant-garde musicians who influenced him so much at the beginning of his own career.

As Rava puts it: “I simply love playing with young musicians. As I continue to develop, I need to be surprised. When I notice the gifts of a young musician, I immediately involve him in my groups.”

“Tribe” will soon be performed in the US, where the Rava Tribe Tour will start on February 2nd from San Francisco [4], and move to Portland [5], OR on the 18th, to New York City from the 21st to the 25th, and end in Buffalo [6] on the 26th.

Rava’s return to the Big Apple is more of a homecoming than anything else. It was in the mid-Sixties New York City that Rava came in touch with artists Roswell Rudd, Marion Brown, Rashied Ali, Cecil Taylor, Charlie Haden and Marvin Peterson. Rava lived in New York City for eight years, in which he worked and played with the greatest artists on the jazz scene, while directing quartets, touring the world and receiving prestigious awards.

In 2004 Rava performed in the temple of contemporary jazz, the Blue Note, and in 2009 he dedicated to New York City an entire record, titled “New York Days” recorded with an all star quintet: Mike Turner, Stefano Bollani, Larry Grenadier and Paul Motian.

Rava’s declaration of love to New York will perpetuate this year at the Birdland [7] Club.
We recommend you don’t miss it.