Mondo Jazz

RAVA, FRESU E ENTEN ELLER SUI SITI AMERICANI

Spesso i musicisti italiani sono oggetto di interesse da parte della critica americana. Nelle ultime settimane sono comparse recensioni di album e di concerti sia su Down Beat che sul portale All About Jazz .

Su Down Beat c'è la recensione dell'album di Enrico Rava, On The Dance Floor ad opera di Bobby Reed. Vista l'autorevolezza della fonte la riporto integralmente.

Lo stesso album è poi recensito anche da John Kelman su AAJ (vedi link a piè pagina), sito dove in un articolo di inizio anno Mark Corroto analizza molti album del 2012 che per vari motivi non hanno avuto il risalto meritato. Tra questi anche E(x)stinzione degli Enten Eller, per me il migliore album italiano dello scorso anno.

Infine e sempre su AAJ per la penna di Dan Bilawsky c'è la recensione delle serate al Blue Note che hanno visto protagonista il trombettista sardo Paolo Fresu in duo con Omar Sosa.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43695

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43759&pg=3

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43846

 BY BOBBY REED
Enrico Rava,
Rava On The Dance Floor (ECM)
One school of thought holds that jazz thrives when it remains staunchly separate from pop music and its common-denominator elements. But another school of thought believes that jazz musicians should embrace pop music and rework its melodies and harmonies. Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava falls into the latter camp with his new album, Rava On The Dance Floor, recorded with the 11-member Parco della Musica Jazz Lab at two concerts in Rome in 2011.

Rava and company tackled 10 numbers associated with the late pop star Michael Jackson, and each tune was arranged by trombonist/tuba player Mauro Ottolini. “Thriller” has been reconfigured to include extended trumpet runs, a hand-percussion break, a searing trombone solo and an explosive segment that ventures into outside territory; plus, the whole song is undergirded by a kick-ass brass section. “History” sounds like what would happen if Rava convened a rock group and a superb college marching band for a celebratory gig.

 The spare arrangement of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (from 1987’s Bad) is a guitar showcase for the gifted Marcello Giannini, and it segues into a rock version of “Smooth Criminal” that’s spiced with jovial trumpet work. Rava shows his poignant side with a version of the Charlie Chaplin song “Smile” (a standard that Jermaine Jackson sang at the July 7, 2009, memorial service for his younger brother Michael). Rava was not a Jackson fan while the singer was alive, but the media coverage in the aftermath of his death caused the trumpeter to explore the superstar’s oeuvre. This album is yet another reminder of the pervasive global reach of Jackson’s music.