Enrico Rava - The Pilgrim and the Stars

[Aggie87]

huh?

[jmjk]

Oops. Sorry, folks. My browser was having some problems and it looks like this topic was created four times!

[Guest akanalog]

maybe this can be the one of the four people reply to.

delete the other topics, dude.

anyway, isn't there a song on this album actually called "blancasnow"?

i like the album a lot. like "drum ode" by dave liebman, i think it would be better minus the ECM production, but it is still a nice album. i don't care for the freak out tune which is maybe the fourth tune or so, but the rest are nice. i especially like the gentle but too brief passage which ends the album.

i was thinking of ordering the rava quartet album but haven't gotten around to doing so.

i just listened to "the plot", which is the same band as the "pilgrim..", for the first time in a while a few nights ago and it is also a good one. it is possible i like it overall better than "the pilgrim.." so i would recommend checking that one out if you haven't yet.

a rava album i am trying to order is the "around the world in 80 days one" which i have never heard but i have feeling i will like. that one is not on ECM but is on soul note or black saint. have you heard that one?

rava has another good one or two in the ECM vaults from thw 70s which they haven't seen necessary to reissue but i like.

[jmjk]

I think the "freak out" tune may be "Surprise Hotel", which is not too much of a distraction for me, as it only lasts a few minutes. The tune which follows ("By the Sea") is really nice.

Roswell Rudd plays some cool bone on the Quartet album, and there's a duo version of 'Round Midnight, which, sadly, doesn't really take off. A nice set, nonetheless.

I have a vinyl copy of The Plot, but I haven't checked it out in depth yet---something to do at home tonight. I don't have the ...80 Days album, but I'll keep my eyes open

[Guest akanalog]

a word for jon christensen who sounds great on "pilgrim" and "plot". what an underappreciated drummer. he makes so many ECM albums, in my opinion.

[jmjk]

a word for jon christensen who sounds great on "pilgrim" and "plot". what an underappreciated drummer. he makes so many ECM albums, in my opinion.

Agreed. Which is probably why he received his own entry in the Rarum series, although I don't believe he recorded any sessions as a leader. I've had his Rarum disc in my hands a few times, but never purchased it, as I have most of the tracks on their original releases.

(edit to delete duplicate word...why no spell check on this board?)

Edited January 3, 2006 by jmjk

[Guest akanalog]

yeah the rarums...what's the point? save your money for the original albums.

i am listening to miroslav vitous "first meeting" right now. more nice christensen. and next will be rainer bruninghaus "freigeweht".

i like what rava brought to ECM as a trumpet player-much more vigorous and lively stuff than wheeler and stinko, who are both great, of course. but different.

[tonym]

i like what rava brought to ECM as a trumpet player-much more vigorous and lively stuff than wheeler and stinko, who are both great, of course. but different.

Stinko???? Wash your mouth out!!!

Actually I find lots of Stanko's playing has real fire to it and having seen him live he can pull it off effortlessly.

The discussed album is IMO fantastic, this quartet should have made dozens of discs together. It's quite sprawling for it's short length and comes together marvellously for the last tune, Blancasnow.

[Aggie87]

yeah the rarums...what's the point? save your money for the original albums.

i am listening to miroslav vitous "first meeting" right now. more nice christensen. and next will be rainer bruninghaus "freigeweht".

i like what rava brought to ECM as a trumpet player-much more vigorous and lively stuff than wheeler and stinko, who are both great, of course. but different.

I have a few of the rarum compilations, and have used them to test out an artist i wasn't as familiar with (like Christensen). The help me to decide whether to pursue additional material by that artist. Pretty much any compilation on any label serves this purpose doesn't it?

Or it can just be a sampler of someone that satisfies your interest in that particular music. I have a number of compilations for rock artists where i just want their hits and that's it. For performers that I *really* like I tend to get after their catalog anyway.

[Guest akanalog]

Edited January 3, 2006 by akanalog

[Guest akanalog]

but yes also in general i would say i am very against compilations of any kind.

personally it seems like a better way to get to know an artist is through their albums.

listening to their hits or a small selection of stuff that might span 20 years gives a more cloudy picture in my mind.

and once one gets to know an artist, the compilation discs will be worthless anyway if the listener buys more albums.

and if one gets a compilation and doesn't like it, the same money would be wasted as buying one album by the artists and not liking it.

why are you you getting upset about this, aggie? because i don't like john scofield?

[Aggie87]

but yes also in general i would say i am very against compilations of any kind.

personally it seems like a better way to get to know an artist is through their albums.

listening to their hits or a small selection of stuff that might span 20 years gives a more cloudy picture in my mind.

and once one gets to know an artist, the compilation discs will be worthless anyway if the listener buys more albums.

and if one gets a compilation and doesn't like it, the same money would be wasted as buying one album by the artists and not liking it.

why are you you getting upset about this, aggie? because i don't like john scofield?

I'm not upset at all....i apologize if it came across that way (though I don't see anything in what I wrote that appears that way). And I don't mind one way or the other if you like Scofield. Everyone's mileage varies.

I was just commenting on the purpose (from my perspective) of compilations. I don't really have many jazz compilations, I don't think. Well, not "best of" types, anyway. I do have some compilations of shows (like the vision fest cd or things of that sort).

For me rock compilations make sense. For others they don't. I don't want all of U2's cds (anymore), but the two compilations they put out suit me fine.

[Guest akanalog]

well i wish ECM would work harder in getting everything in print rather than putting out these definitive compilations. arild andersen, for instance...how can you put out his rarum when many of his albums are still not on CD? they are definitely not on the rarum either.

but no offense taken. sorry, aggie.

[jmjk]

but yes also in general i would say i am very against compilations of any kind.

personally it seems like a better way to get to know an artist is through their albums.

listening to their hits or a small selection of stuff that might span 20 years gives a more cloudy picture in my mind.

and once one gets to know an artist, the compilation discs will be worthless anyway if the listener buys more albums.

and if one gets a compilation and doesn't like it, the same money would be wasted as buying one album by the artists and not liking it.

why are you you getting upset about this, aggie? because i don't like john scofield?

You guys are funny.

Even though I will not be purchasing the Christensen Rarum, I did purchase the Stanko Rarum for the same reasons Aggie mentioned. Never inspired me to pick up any beyond Balladyna, though.

Back to Christensen...I REALLY dig his playing on Garbarek's SART, especially the snare work on Fountain of Tears. That whole track is percussively fantastic, though sometimes it's difficult to tell if some of the sounds are being made by Christensen, or if it's Rypdal just being weird--all of it is okay by me.

[Guest akanalog]

i do not really like stinko's albums but i do like "balladyna". that is a good one. dave holland sounds excellent on that one. really holds it together and the music stays vigorous and avoids rhythmic stasis for the most part, to my ears.

"sart" was a little out for me but i did like "afric pepperbird" a lot. that one had some interesting percussion also. i think rypdal did do a lot of weird rhythmic stuff back then but i don't know the sound you are talking about.

sorry for getting off the original rava album-

as a poster mentioned, the last song is great. i mentioned it to. someone-i don't know if it the bass or low guitar notes, starts doing this arpeggio thing right at the end. i wish that ending section would go on a bit more. rava gets in a nice growl too. i think it quickly fades out, doesn't it? beautiful, though.

[Guest akanalog]

ok so i just got ino the mail "il giro del giorno in 80 mondi" by enrico rava.

it's on black saint but i guess it is a reissue of the album and it was originally on a smaller label and came out in 1972.

the band has rava and chip white on drums and bruce johnson on guitar and marcello melis on bass.

it is really good and if you like the rava stuff w. abercrombie, christensen and danielson you will definitely enjoy it.

the sound is much rougher and actually the johnson guy plays acoustic mostly but due to the production it isn't the soft gentle wimpy acoustic guitar i dislike (like abercombie on his "timeless" album) but it is quite aggressive acoustic playing and it works really well.

anyway this is an album worth searching for.

i searched for it because i remembered a long time ago seeing it in a store and never seeing it since but i remembered liking the artwork and thinking (what was the rava album with the nice artwork i saw in a store but haven't seen since?) and this is it.

[jmjk]

ok so i just got ino the mail "il giro del giorno in 80 mondi" by enrico rava.

it's on black saint but i guess it is a reissue of the album and it was originally on a smaller label and came out in 1972.

I found a vinyl copy just this past weekend and also picked it up!

I think the production suffers a bit. Sounds like it was recorded in a cave. At 1st listen, the playing is good, but I haven't have time to dig into it too deeply. I believe this was Rava's 1st date as a leader. My copy says marcello melis on FENDERBASS (thought that was cute).

akanalog, do you have Rava's latter ECM release called "Opening Night"? I'm curious to hear it, or any comments on it.

Edited January 9, 2006 by jmjk

[Guest akanalog]

i like the in the cave production.

i am in the anti-ECM sound camp.

and i dislike acoustic guitar so this rough acoustic guitar sound is pleasant to me.

i have never heard or seen "opening night".

i hope i did not lead you to an album you don't like with the "il giorno..." one.

hopefully you did not pay too much and you think it was worth the pickup.

[jmjk]

Hey, no worries! I like Rava and I thought it was kinda cool that I stumbled on the 80 Mondi album in a used store.

I need to burn it to cd and check it out for a day or two. At $3.50, it was a non-threatening purchase! I also found copies of Andersen's Shimri and Bobo Stenson's Underwear at next to nothing!

[andybleaden]

I have this album and I really enjoyed its freshness.

I never bothered with the rarums really as I have many of the original cds etc so think it will not be of much use to me however I guess they are a safe investment for someone trying to find out more.

However this is where I find the whole cdr /mp3 thing comes into play as this is entirely the value of turning someone on to the new enrico rava or manu katche or who ever as then more people will go out and get the original cd....if you have problems with that - well fine...or do a compilation for your buddies....thats what makes me pick up more jazz and long may it last!