Friday, May 5, 2023

Led Zeppelin - 1973 - Pigeon Blood

Led Zeppelin
1973-05-05
Tampa Stadium
Tampa, FL

"Pigeon Blood" (Flagge)




101. Rock and Roll
102. Celebration Day
103. Black Dog
104. Over the Hills and Far Away
105. Misty Mountain Hop
106. Since I've Been Loving You

201. No Quarter
202. The Song Remains The Same
203. The Rain Song
204. Dazed and Confused
205. Stairway to Heaven

301. Moby Dick
302. Heartbreaker
303. Whole Lotta Love
304. The Ocean
305. Communication Breakdown



News report:

LED ZEPPELIN BREAKS ATTENDANCE RECORD AS WELL AS AN OLD BARRIER OF SILENCE

Record-breaking tour audiences and grosses have been claimed by a lot of rock groups - Beatles, Rolling Stones, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk Railroad. Now Led Zeppelin is claiming one - biggest audience for one act ever in the United States.

This was May 5 at the Tampa Stadium, the night after the British group started its U.S. tour in Atlanta. Attendance in Tampa was 56,800, with a $309,000 gross. Led Zeppelin is on a 33-concert, 30-city tour during May and July, with June off for vacation, expecting a total gross of $3 million. The quartet performs without an opening act or intermission, for two and a half hours.

But if anybody thinks they're blasé about playing to such a big crowd as in Tampa, 'he's wrong. We spoke later by phone with lead singer Robert Plant in New Orleans. He said, "I think it was the biggest thrill I've had. I pretend - I kid myself — I'm not very nervous in a situation like that. I try to bounce around just like normal.

"But, if you do a proportionate thing, it would be like halt of England's population. "It was a real surprise. Tampa is the last place I would expect to see 60,000 people. It's not the country's biggest city. It was fantastic. One would think it would be very hard to communicate; with 60,000 people some have got to be quite a distance off. There were no movie screens showing us, like in Atlanta. The only thing they could pick on was the complete vibe of what music was being done."

Plant and Page write most of the group's songs. Some are a collaboration of all four. Gold albums have been "Led Zeppelin," "Led Zeppelin II," "Led Zeppelin III" and "Houses of the Holy," Atlantic, the latter being the best-selling album in the U.S. tor the first two weeks of May. The group also has a gold single, "Whole Lotta Love." But singles are not a big item with Led Zeppelin.

"You can't pick up on what we do in three minutes." Plant adds that some people thought the group was heavy, sexy rock from its hit single. "Now I think they realize there is more. They realize we have subtlety and a spectrum. You can't keep sending out heavy rock all the lime.

"Every time we make an album, our musical leanings advance more and more. A person won't be repetitious if he has any artistry at all. It sounds egotistical but I think this group has the most talented musicians in England. Jimmy Page has played backup with innumerable people from Burt Bacharach to the Rolling Stones.

"He is like the father of the group. Bassist John Paul Jones has done arrangements for people who are world-famous. I came roaring out of the blues and drummer John Bonham used to be like me.

“After bashing out infectious rock, we've started to level out into an artistically leaning group. There's been no big hype behind it at all. The music sort of seeped through to people. The first album was sensitive, traditional songs like Joan Baez had done. Since then it has gone from strength to strength. An audience can ever anticipate in advance what our next album will be like.

"Live, we do a lot of improvising. The numbers will be more or less the same numbers, but what goes on inside, apart from the melody lines, will alter each night. There’s a lot of phrase tossing between drummer, bassist and guitarist and I've been renowned for using my voice as an instrument.

"A lot of groups are too frightened to play away from the track of the records. You see them twice and know exactly what you'll hear the third time. And it's the reason why our group has never changed personnel.

A lot of groups pack it up and form again. There's internal strife because of musical boredom — plugging away at the same old thing. We stay creative: I think that is exactly what we're known for." (A.P. - May 1973)




If attendance and sales records are an indication of a band’s success, then Led Zeppelin’s Tampa show on May 5th, 1973 is one of their greatest achievements. With a paid attendance of 56,800, they surpassed the record previously held by The Beatles’ August 15th 1965 show at Shea Stadium in Flushing, where they drew about 55,000. This was the second show of the tour and the first with tape sources for documentation (it is claimed that the first show in Atlanta was taped but remains with a hoarder). A very good audience recording was pressed on vinyl on The Beat Goes On: Inedits Volume 4 (Beat 1-2) which has “Rock And Roll” to “No Quarter” on one disc. The tape also runs slightly fast. The complete show can be found on Quantient (Sad Songs SS 7319 A-F).

This tape was used for the earliest compact disc releases of this show including 56,700 Fans Together and Boogie (Rock Calendar RC 2127/2128), First Day (ARMS 03/04PR), Quantient (Cobra 023), and most recently on Top Of The World (Badgeholders BH011-02-02). The first six tracks can be found on First Choice (Sugar Cane SC52001/2) as a bonus with the April 9th, 1970 Tampa show. A second tape surfaced and was used on two releases from the mid-nineties, 56,800 In the Ocean (Silver Rarities SIRA 166/167) & Tampa Stadium (Tarantura TAMP-1,2). This source is more distant but still listenable. Flagge released Pigeon Blood in 1999 and is an edit of the two sources. Mainly used is the first, but the second is used to fill several gaps in “No Quarter” from 5:28 to 6:48, “The Song Remains The Same” from fifty-three seconds to 1:30,and one in “The Ocean” from 3:20 to 3:32. Because on the tape “Over The Hills And Far Away” follows immediately after “Black Dog” with no comments by Plant, some have suggested there could be a cut there as well. Since there is no obvious cut there it sounds as if they were experimenting with an opening four song segue instead of the three that would be normal for this tour. Plant’s comments after “Over The Hills And Far Away” seem to suggest this.

The band are very much aware of the significance of the event and before they even play a note Robert Plant says, “Hello. It seems between us, we’ve done something nobody’s done before and that’s fantastic. We should have had one of those big satellites, you know?” They rip into the set and play the first four songs, “Rock And Roll,” “Celebration Day,” “Black Dog” and “Over The Hills And Far Away” at a furious pace with no break. “So now it’s time to say good evening. Is anybody, did anybody ever make the Orlando gig we did last time? So, we’re in the same country, yeah? Now this is the second gig that we’ve done this time since we’ve been to the States, and…I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this. It’s really great, but anyway, that’s up to us too. This is a song about what happens in England if you go walking in the park, and maybe some nice guy passes you some cigarette papers, and then it takes on from there. It’s called ‘Misty Mountain Hop.'”

The Zeppelin four track runs into “Since I’ve Been Loving You” in an arrangement they’ve been playing since Japan the previous October. There is a tremendous amount of discord in the audience during the song and afterwards Plant has to restore order, saying, “Now listen. Listen. Dare I ask you that, as we’ve achieved something between us that’s never been done before, that you could just cool it on these barriers here because otherwise there’s gonna be a lot might get poorly, right? So if you have a little respect for the person who’s standing next to you, which is really what it’s all about, then possibly we can have no problems, right? Cause we don’t want no problems, do we? I mean it’s bad enough with the balance of payments isn’t it?

“No Quarter” was introduced to the stage and was premiered the previous night in Atlanta. Tampa is the second ever live performance and they stick close to the studio arrangement, clocking in about eight minutes. It would soon be stretched out to twice that length. Two new songs, “The Song Remains The Same” and “The Rain Song” follow. The crowd become restless during the mellow ballad and Plant has to say something again. “Listen, we want this to be a really joyous occasion, and I got to tell you this because three people have been taken to hospital, and if you keep pushing on that barrier there’s gonna be stacks and stacks of people going. So, for goodness sake, we are animals, but we can move back a little bit because it’s the only way. If you can’t do that then you can’t really live with yourself, just for this evening anyway. Can you cooperate? Seems a shame to talk about things like cooperation when there’s so many of us. Anyway, you people sitting up the sides there are doing a great job, but these poor people here are being pushed by somebody. So cool it for a bit cause it’s, it’s not very nice.”

He then reminiscences a bit, saying, “I’ve forgotten the first place we ever played in Florida. I know we played the convention center in Miami, which is really bad. The gig was good, but there was some men walking around all the time making such a silly scene, and we got nobody’s this time. So we’ve got to please ourselves have it, right. This is a number that was around then, and it’s still around, and it takes John Paul Jones to take us there.” “Dazed And Confused” is again very compact and Page rushes through the sections. This is especially noticeable in the beginning and Plant struggles to keep up. “Moby Dick” lasts only twelve minutes and segues directly into “Heartbreaker” with no return to the final theme. This is the only time they employed this arrangement. Plant mentions the record again during the “Boogie Chillun'” section in “Whole Lotta Love” and they reward the audience with two encores. The tape continues between the two numbers so two and a half minutes of cheering is present.



Overall this is a good but nervous and tentative show brought on by being the second show of what was their biggest US tour to date and the breaking of a record that stood for eight years by The Beatles who by that time had been apotheosized into the collective consciousness of pop culture. This is a very good sounding document of the show and a nice edit job between the two tapes for a complete show. Flagge stretched it over three discs when it could have easily fit onto two. It is packaged in a fatboy jewel case with the artwork printed on only one side of the inserts. Good action shots are used for the front and back covers and they print a review from The Concert File on the back. When Pigeon Blood was first released the price charged was prohibitive, but almost a decade since it could be found reasonably and is a good addition to the collection.

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1978 - Un Hombre de Buenos Aires

Jorge Lopez Ruiz
1978
Un Hombre de Buenos Aires



01. El Grito Del Hombre 8:04
02. La Nostalgia Del Hombre 3:55
03. La Alegria Del Hombre 4:03
04. El Ruego Del Hombre 4:51
05. El Adios Del Hombre 9:05

Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass, Piano – Jorge Lopez Ruiz
Bandoneon – Dino Saluzzi
Double Bass – Hector Console
Drums – Pocho Lapouble
Electric Piano – Gustavo Moretto
Guitar – Oscar Lopez Ruiz
Percussion – Domingo Cura, José Maria Loriente
Piano – Pablo Ziegler
Soprano Saxophone – Andres Boiarsky
Trumpet – Victor Ducatenzeiler
Violin – Antonio Agri
Vocals – Donna Caroll



Jorge López Ruiz is one of the most creative and versatile musical talents to come out of Argentina. He is a bassist, trumpeter, composer and arranger familiar with many genres of music. He has done jazz, pop, and has written movie scores.

Like many other artists of the late '60s and '70s, López Ruiz deplored the turn that the political situation in Argentina was taking in most of the Latin American countries . Political fighting across the continent became increasingly violent as the military and the far right took control. In Argentina, two democratically elected presidents, Frondizi (1962) and Illia (1966), were overthrown by military coups. In 1966 a military dictatorship was imposed under the command of General Onganía, which generated a strong reaction of discontent and rebellion in the population; the demonstrations became increasingly violent and dangerous for both the protesters and the police.

On the other hand, the military responded in an increasingly brutal way to this popular rejection, with kidnapping, torture and summary executions. This was the climate in which Ruiz, and other artists, had to function.

Despite everything, they were able to produce tremendously creative and revolutionary work, both musically and in a political and social sense.

BA Jazz , the album with which Jorge López Ruiz debuted, was released in 1961. It was a mixture of covers and original material by the artist. A young musician named Leandro Barbieri took part in this album on the tenor saxophone. Later, Leandro would become Gato Barbieri, one of the Argentine musicians with the greatest international projection.

Alongside his impressive career as a musician, López Ruiz was the A&R director of la Trova Records, a leading Argentine label that made recordings of iconic Argentine artists such as Astor Piazzola. I am not going to talk about his teaching activity, which is also very fruitful, because it would take me a long time and perhaps it would be out of place here.

As a double bass player and composer, López Ruiz wrote music for more than sixty films and some forty plays. The list of his musical collaborations is impressive; among others, he collaborated with Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and João Gilberto, as well as with Argentine jazz figures such as drummer Pichy Mazzei in the early 1960s and saxophonist Chivo Borrao on the album En Vivo (1973).

From the late 1960s to the 1970s, López Ruiz's success was on the rise: he released magnificent works such as El Grito (1967), Bronca en Buenos Aires (1971) - both banned by the military dictatorship -, De Prepo ( 1972), Viejas Raíces (1975), Viejas Raíces II (1976) and A man from Buenos Aires (1978), a work that we are dealing with today.

Musicians like José Afonso, or Jorge López Ruiz, show us that music can be more than just a pretty decoration or fleeting entertainment: music can be the epicenter of a revolution. Because if it were not so, it would not be necessary for totalitarian regimes to prohibit it, when it questions and dismantles them, not only with words, but with the feeling of freedom that it transmits, something that in itself is a threat to any dictatorship.

To finish, A man from Buenos Aires is a concert in five movements, which wants to reflect the desires of the human being throughout his life, from the experiences of a man from Buenos Aires.

As you can see, the cream of the Argentine folk and jazz scene of the time intervenes on the record: from the bandoneonist Dino Saluzzi to the brilliant percussionist Domingo Cura.

The vocal group Buenos Aires 8 with Donna Carroll, although at times they sound a little old-fashioned to me , in general they do an excellent job.

A Man from Buenos Aires is an avant-garde work that is still current and current, which for me is very important to rescue from oblivion. The progressive and free spirit that emanates from his notes can be a great antidote to hardness of mind and heart.

Viejas Raices - 1976 - De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata

Viejas Raices 
1976
De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata




01. O'Placar
02. Para Nosotros Solamente
03. Balewada
04. Los Berugos Wor
05. La Hora De La Sed Maldita
06. El Viaje De Dumpty
07. Eterna Presencia
08. Mira Tú

Bass, Clavinet, Organ, Percussion, Synthesizer – Jorge López Ruiz
Bongos – José Maria
Congas – Nene Gimenez
Drums, Percussion, Mini Moog, Tambourine – Pocho Lapouble
Piano, Clavinet, Moog – Matias Pizarro
Vocals – Alejandra Martín




One of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz's leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked Lopez Ruiz's departure from the traditional forms of jazz. The trio that recorded this album, consisting of López Ruiz joined by his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro, created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz's long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title (in English: 'Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate') readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.

Recorded in 1976 in the wake of the "Proceso de Reorganización Nacional", the bloodiest period of dictatorship in Argentina, the album was initially frowned upon by critics and public alike, both still firmly rooted in jazz traditionalism and obviously not ready for the new ideas that musicians like López Ruiz were experimenting with. Despite being a commercial flop upon its release, the album has been enjoying a growing reputation over the last two decades, acclaimed by jazz enthusiasts who value it from a different historical perspective and embrace its experimentation during this revolutionary period of change.

One of the coolest records we've ever heard from this legendary Argentine pianist – a set that has Jorge Lopez Ruiz playing lots of Fender Rhodes, and mixing it in with both rootsy Latin percussion and a number of other keyboards too! The set's almost a South American version of some of Herbie Hancock's work with the Headhunters – with more traditional percussion passages in the mix, but blended with sounds that include Arp and mini-moog too – which gives the whole thing a criss-crossing vibe that alternates from the surface of the planet to the deeper ranges of the cosmos! Ruiz is wonderful throughout – often very spacious, in a thoughtful way that only makes each note have more power

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1975 - Viejas Raices

Jorge Lopez Ruiz 
1975
Viejas Raices



01. J. M. "Pepe" - El Condor 3:38
02. Del Galope Cuadrero 3:05
03. La Rosalba Y El Guri 5:00
04. La Chiquita Esa 3:50
05. Viejas Raices - Nuevos Contextos 4:45
06. Ellos Dos - El Futuro 3:18
07. E. C. Amigo 3:55
08. Rumimus (1974 - 26 Años Después) 3:10

Bombo Indio, Tamburra Hindú, Percussion – Domingo Cura
Contrabass – Jorge López Ruiz
Drums, Percussion – Pocho Lapouble
Guitar – Ricardo Lew
Electric Piano – Víctor Díaz Vélez
Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Pincuyo – Hugo Pierre



Double bass player, composer, arranger, López Ruiz –another of the great Flacos of Argentine music, as Sergio Pujol once pointed out– belongs to that generation that in the 1950s traced the modernity of jazz in Argentina. Lalo Schifrin and Gato Barbieri were the lanterns of a Buenos Aires that, while receiving the first news of bebop, offered some nights in which it was possible to find Dizzy Gilespie, Tony Bennett or some other mother-tongue jazz player.

López Ruiz had started playing the trumpet, but in those emergencies on stage, where "the show must go on", one night they sent him to replace the double bassist. There he stayed. With that instrument in 1961 he recorded his first album BA Jazz, with Fats Fernández on trumpet, Baby López Furst on piano, Pichi Mazzei on drums, as well as Gato Barbieri on tenor sax. Later he joined the trio led by pianist Enrique Mono Villegas, with Eduardo Casalla on drums. And in the mid-'60s he was a regular diner at the gargantuan Folkloreishon that pianist Eduardo Lagos hosted at his house. That was a cenacle of elaborations and crosses in which people like Hugo Díaz, Oscar Alem, Oscar Cardozo Ocampo, Antonio Agri and Astor Piazzolla participated. It was the bandoneon player who recommended him to Alberto Ginastera to be his student.
In 1967 López Ruiz coincided with Arturo Jauretche in a television program hosted by Roberto Galán. On camera he animatedly criticized the Onganía dictatorship. He was the author of Manual de zonceras argentinas who immediately urged the double bass player to say what he had said, “but now with music”. This is where El grito was born, a suite for jazz orchestra composed, arranged and conducted by López Ruiz himself. From there came an unusual album for Argentine jazz: combative, but with great musical fiber. It was also the revelation of López Ruiz as arranger. The then dynamic recording industry soon gave him a place among its most versatile figures. Thus, López Ruiz became Sandro's sound architect and, later, the arranger for Leonardo Favio, Piero and, by extension,
At that beginning of the decade, in which he also joined a free jazz quartet with saxophonist Horacio Chivo Borraro, the double bassist composed Bronca Buenos Aires, on texts by José Tcherkaski, co-author of many of Piero's songs from that time. Without being the continuation of El grito nor pretending to be, Bronca Buenos Aires maintains the same spirit of rebellion, after the events of the Cordobazo and the convulsions of a country that found a lucid reflection in the music of López Ruiz; so much so that both albums were fatally banned and withdrawn from circulation. Recovered –Bronca Buenos Aires could only be heard live here in 2015–, today they are among the most intense memories of Argentine music, and not only of that time.
De prepo (1972), with Jorge López Ruiz 5, a quintet in which among others were Pocho Lapouble on drums and Hugo Pierre on sax, and the two volumes of Viejas raíces (1975 and 1976), works close to the idea of ​​fusion at that time very prolific in international jazz, they marked out a discography distinguished by its stylistic versatility and good taste. López Ruiz was a jazz player in his prime when in 1978 he composed A man from Buenos Aires, in commemoration of the 400 years of the city. There he was with Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon, Oscar López Ruiz on guitar, Domingo Cura on percussion, Pablo Ziegler on piano and Gustavo Moretto on electric piano, Andres Boiarsky on soprano sax and the singer Donna Caroll, among others. The years of the dictatorship prompted him to leave Buenos Aires to emigrate to the United States,
In 1990 he returned to Argentina and with records such as Espacios (1990) and Coincidencias (1994) he marked his own territory in the city that continued to mature his own idea of ​​jazz. A territory from which names and styles entered and left, mixed between recent tradition and the concerns of the new generations. The quartet with the guitarist Tomás Fraga, the saxophonist Jorge Cutello and the drummer Germán Boco, was the last demonstration of that open and combative spirit, to which another community of young and combative local jazz values, the Kuai Ensemble, recently paid tribute. with Permanent Solitudes, a collective work that is reflected in the spirit and gesture of Bronca Buenos Aires.

We return to jazz fusion once again and this time we go to the parts of the Río de la Plata: Jorge Lopez Ruiz, a teacher as inevitable in our collective unconscious as an Astor Piazzolla can be, except that while one was having dinner under the dictatorship with Videla, the other was censored in the contestatory works he carried out (Bronca, El grito). The dictatorship today is masked in a more subtle way, that is why from this space we also gestate subtle forms of rebellion (longing for the direct one of course, but for this we need the awakening of the people). Led by his acoustic bass, Jorge brings us Viejas Raíces which, as its name indicates, is a beautiful combination of jazz and new contexts, with the ancient artifacts that nurtured the lands of the River Plate: candombe.

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1971 - Bronca Buenos Aires

Jorge Lopez Ruiz 
1971
Bronca Buenos Aires



01. La Ciudad Vacía
02. Relatos
03. Amor Buenos Aires
04. Bronca Buenos Aires

Contrabass, Producer – Jorge Lopez Ruiz
Organ – Santiago Giacobbe
Percussion – Enrique "Zurdo" Roizner
Piano, Flute – Fernando Gelbard
Tenor Saxophone – Horacio "Chivo" Borraro
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pompeyo "Cholo" Carlo
Trombone – Gregorio Golinsky
Trombone – Horacio Cusato
Trombone – Jorge Pataro
Trumpet – Alfredo Mariconda
Trumpet – Americo Belloto
Trumpet – Domingo Mariconda
Trumpet – S. D'Amico (tracks: 3,4)
Trumpet – Tomas Lepere (tracks: 1,2)
Drums – Carlos "Pocho" Lapouble
Electric Bass – Alfredo Remus
Flugelhorn – Gustavo Bergalli
Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Francisco "Paco" Freigido
Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Alberto Mizrahi
Coro – Alicia Varady
Coro – Donna Carbol
Coro – Helen Jackson
Coro – Julio Darre
Coro – Maria Eugenia Dabre
Coro – Mario Orliac
Coro – Roberto Aguirre
Narrator – Jose Tcherkaski

Essential jazz from Argentina, originally released in 1971. Bronca Buenos Aires is one of the highlights in the career of Jorge López Ruiz, alongside El Grito and the much-acclaimed Viejas Raíces project.

The album is jazz poem by López Ruiz to the city he loved, not just for its virtues but also its faults, and the recording was an ambitious project that gathered many of the prominent jazz musicians of Buenos Aires.


However, due to the repressive political context of the time, Bronca Buenos Aires was not performed live upon its release. The text that accompanies the music, written and narrated by José Tcherkaski, was too daring despite not being directly outspoken against the dictatorship that ruled in Argentina, and broadcasters kept a distance under fear of retaliation by the military establishment. Inexplicably, several later re-releases of Bronca Buenos Aires omitted the spoken word overdubs, reducing the work to an instrumental album and stripping it of half of its beauty and significance.

Thursday, May 4, 2023

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1967 - El Grito (Suite para Orquesta de Jazz)

Jorge Lopez Ruiz
1967
El Grito (Suite para Orquesta de Jazz)



01. El Grito 6:12
02. M.A.B. - Amor 7:45
03. Todas Las Estrellas 3:45
04. Tendre El Mundo 4:10
05. De Nuevo El Grito 7:45

Alto Saxophone, Soloist – Mario Cosentino
Baritone Saxophone – Julio Darré
Bass Trombone – Christian Kellens
Contrabass – Guillermo Facal (tracks: A1 to B1)
Contrabass – Jorge López Ruiz (tracks: B2, B3)
Drums – Osvaldo (Pichi) Mazzei
Flugelhorn, Soloist – Gustavo Bergalli
French Horn – Marcos Mola
Guitar – Oscar López Ruiz
Piano – Rubén López Fürst
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Arturo Schneider
Trombone – Luis M. Casalla
Trumpet – Domingo Mariconda
Trumpet – José Granata
Trumpet – Tomás Lepere


The work of a genius artist living under an oppressive dictatorship, erased by the government of the time, this is buried treasure in every sense and it’s been a rare record for over 50 years. But it isn’t just being hard to find that has pushed up the prices of those few original copies that survived, this is a foundational record in the development of jazz in South America.

El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz), eternal Argentinian magic released on CBS in 1967. One of the most sought-after South American jazz LPs. Living in Buenos Aires in the '60s, driven by creative impulse and rage Jorge López Ruiz used music as his platform to protest the Argentine military dictatorship. A young López Ruiz had appeared on a television panel alongside writer, politician and philosopher Arturo Jauretche, criticizing the Onganía dictatorship. Jauretche told López Ruiz "Now say it with music". This was the deep inhale that lead to El Grito, literally "The Scream". El Grito was banned not long after it was released and the majority of original copies were unceremoniously destroyed. A rare record for over 50 years, El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz) is a showcase for Jorge López Ruiz's skills as a composer and arranger as he leads a virtuoso orchestra of the likes of Mario Cosentino (alto sax), Baby López Furst (piano), Pichi Mazzei (drums), Gustavo Bergalli (trumpet), Oscar López Ruiz (guitar), Arturo Schneider (flute), and Jorge López Ruiz himself plays double bass on the fourth and fifth movements. As the album's sub-title explains, the album is a jazz orchestra concept suite. Five movements, to be heard as a whole, that end where they begin. "El Grito" grabs you by the lapels and refuses to let go. Raw then controlled, it's by turns stabbing then soothing, with rage weaved in and out of the elegant styles. With a tense introduction and a patient build, in "M.A.B. Amor" a gentle sax sweeps in to lift everything up to meet the serene piano and soft drums. Elegantly paced, it moves back and forth between deep contemplation and a more urgent call and response between strings and horns. "Hasta El Cielo, Sin Nubes, Con Todas Las Estrellas (Up To The Sky, No Clouds, With All The Stars)" a relatively brief mid-tempo piece featuring López Ruiz's insistent bass notes high in the mix, and again blending the sublime with the emotive with its wild horns and tight rhythm section. It's followed by "Tendré El Mundo (I Will Have The World)" which also leads with hypnotic bass, but this time swifter, driven by crashing drums, rapid horn conversations and effortlessly cool piano flourishes. Rounding out the suite, "De Nuevo El Grito" is a stylish closer. Whilst López Ruiz's bass shifts the track along, the horns and piano are more restrained, yet no less stunning.

Bassist, composer, arranger, and film scorer Jorge López Ruiz was the living embodiment of Argentine jazz history. This recording, which was done in 1967 with a big band led by López Ruiz, represents a monumental work in Argentine jazz. The work is a concept album that takes a critical stance on the chaotic political situation and the military regime in Argentina at the time. It was banned upon release and directly led to constraints being placed on López Ruiz’s subsequent activities. Musically, it represents the starting point of López Ruiz’s ‘musical world’, where he wholeheartedly reflects his spirit as a Latin American and Argentine citizen onto his music – jazz. This work is a masterpiece of 60’s big band jazz, which captures López Ruiz’s passion and rage – both as a musician and as a man in the face of an unforgiving reality.

A brilliant large group performance from Argentine bassist Jorge Lopez Ruiz -- and one that's got all the fire and energy you might expect from the cover! The album's an extended piece in five movements -- written, arranged, and directed by Ruiz on bass -- but featuring some stunning solo work from Mario Cosentino on alto sax, Gustavo Bergalli on flugelhorn, and Ruben Lopez Furst on piano! The tunes step out slowly, but build fully -- with a mixture of complex ideas and rich individuality that reminds us a lot of the Clark Boland Big Band, with with perhaps an even greater sense of space.

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1966 - Interpreta a Jorge Lopez Ruiz

Jorge Lopez Ruiz
1966
Interpreta a Jorge Lopez Ruiz




01. Presencia (Bebe Eguia In Memoriam)
02. Pablo
03. Oda Para Mi Niña (Ode For My Baby)
04. Linea Para Una Peilicula (Movie Line)
05. El Dia De La Carrera (The Race Day)
06. Jota Ese (J. S.)
07. Marietta
08. Amigo Bud (Bud Friend)

Alto Saxophone – Mario Cosentino
Contrabass – J. Lopez Ruiz
Drums – "Pichi" Mazzei
Piano – "Bubby" Lavecchia
Trumpet – Ruben Barbieri



A lost mid 60s session from famous Argentine bassist Jorge Lopez Ruiz – maybe even more compelling than some of his other albums of the decade, in that the entire set is based on his own compositions! Ruiz is a hell of a bassist and an equally great leader – and works here with this wonderful group that has trumpet from Ruben Barbieri, alto from Marito Cosentino, and piano from Bubby Lavecchia – all players who have this fresh modern sensibility that reminds us a bit of the Italian scene at the same time – echoing American modes, but already finding their own voices and sense of rhythm – moving past conventional swing, but never outside at all either.

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - 1961 - B.A. Jazz By Lopez Ruiz

Jorge Lopez Ruiz
1961
B.A. Jazz By Lopez Ruiz




01. Pablo
02. Tema Para Gatofon
03. Como Sonny
04. Hiroshima
05. Berklee Waltz
06. Michele
07. Siento Algo
08. Gizela
09. Village Blues
10. Summertime
11. Trauma
12. Vicky

Jorge Ruiz Lopez – Double Bass
Roberto Fernandez Trumpet
Leandro “Gato” Barbieri - Tenor Sax
Ruben Lopez Furst – Piano
Pichi Mazzei - Drums


Jorge López Ruiz is one of most versatile of musical talents to emerge from Argentina. As a bass player, composer, performer and arranger he has worked across many genres including jazz, pop as well as stage productions and feature films.

Like many of his fellow artists of the late 60s and 70s, Ruiz found himself increasingly at odds with the direction of the political leadership of Argentina, and much of South America generally. The political struggle across the continent became increasingly violent as successive military and far-right parties took control. In Argentina, two elected presidents, Frondizi (1962) and Illia (1966), were ousted by military coups and in 1966, a military dictatorship under General Ongania was installed that led to a major clash with protestors in the industrial city of Cordoba on 29 May 1969. Such demonstrations became ever more violent and dangerous for those taking part as the police and military used increasingly violent tactics, including kidnapping, torture and summary execution. This was the climate into which Ruiz, and other artists, had to deal with. It’s a testament to his artistic integrity and determination that he was able to produce such a broad and impressive body of work.

BA Jazz was originally released in 1961 on Vik Records as the debut album from Lopez Ruiz featuring a mix of covers and original material. Alongside Ruiz Lopez are Roberto Fernandez on trumpet, Ruben Lopez Furst on piano, Pichi Mazzei on drums and a young musician called Leandro Barbieri on tenor sax. Leandro became better known at Gato Barbieri, who went on to build an international reputation working with Charlie Hayden, Don Cherry, Dollar Brand and Carla Bley and recording for Impulse! Records, Flying Dutchman and A&M Records.

The BA Jazz album has been a rarity for years and original pressings attract huge amounts from collectors. It’s rarity is matched by the fantastic music contained with its grooves. It’s a genuinely important record in the development of jazz in South America.

Alongside his impressive career as a recording artist, Lopez Ruiz was the A&R director of Trova Records, a leading Argentinean label that issued recordings from such iconic Argentinean artists as Astor Piazzola. Something of a polymath, Lopez Ruiz also led a successful second life as academic, being a Doctor of Music at Columbia Pacific University as well as holding a senior position in the London Institute of Applied Research and Social Sciences.

Cinema was another area in which he excelled, becoming a professor of the Argentinean Institute Of Cinematography and he also worked with the EMI-Odeon film company. As a skilled and sensitive double bassist and composer López Ruiz wrote music for over sixty films and forty-odd plays. His list of musical collaborations is impressive and includes work with Tony Bennett, Nat Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and João Gilberto as well as Argentinean jazz figures such as drummer Pichy Mazzei in the early 1960s and saxophonist Chivo Borrao on the album En Vivo (1973).

From the late 60s into the 70s, Lopez Ruiz’s output was prodigious and he released numerous recordings including El Grito (1967), Bronca Buenos Aires (1971), De Prepo (1972), Viejas Raices (1975) Viejas Raices II (1976) and Un Hombre De Buenos Aires (1978).

Great early work from Jorge Lopez Ruiz – an Argentine bassist who we already know for his more experimental recordings in the 70s – already sounding like a committed modernist here at the start of the 60s, in very hip group that also includes a young Gato Barbieri on tenor! The titles a reference to Buenos Airies Jazz – music that really seems to reflect the hipper sound of that important national capitol – as Ruiz works here with a very cool group that reminds us of some of the best Italian modernists of the same time – able to absorb the best styles of the American scene, but deliver them with a very special flavor, and a surprising degree of soul! The titles here are a mix of numbers by Ruiz, John Coltrane, Gato Barbieri, and others.

Horacio Borraro - 1975 - Blues para un Cosmonauta

Horacio Borraro
1975
Blues para un Cosmonauta


01. Lineas Torcidas 9:17
02. Blues Para Un Cosmonauta 7:21
03. Cancion De Cuna Para Un Bebe Del Año 2000 6:40
04. La Invasion De Los Monjes 10:43
05. Mi Amigo Tarzan 9:07

Contrabass – Jorge Gonzalez
Design – Hernán Magliano
Percussion – Nestor Astarita
Percussion, Effects – Miguel "Chino" Rossi
Piano, Synthesizer  – Fernando Gelbard
Saxophone, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Xylophone, Percussion, Recorder – Horacio "Chivo" Borraro

Recorded at ION between July 18 and October 13, 1973.



Fans of Coltrane will certainly dig this historical 1970s spiritual jazz album from Argentina which left an everlasting imprint in the local jazz scene. From the eerie "Blues para un cosmonauta" —which could easily fit in the Twin Peaks soundtrack—, to the majestic "Líneas Torcidas" or the mid-tempo groove of "Mi amigo Tarzán", new landscapes in jazz are explored without hiding, at moments, the musicians' bebop pedigree. Venturing into uncharted dimensions, the album breaks with traditionalism and combines jazz and new electronic instruments into a contemporary concept that is both cosmic and sensual, a sound where timbre and space play a crucial role. Here, no track sounds like the other.

The charismatic, multifaceted saxophone player Horacio "Chivo" Borraro is joined here most notably by Fernando Gelbard —who pioneered electronic keyboards and analog synths in Argentina, playing here Fender Rhodes and Minimoog— and Brazilian musician Stenio Mendes —who plays the 12-string craviola and contributes two tracks. Jorge González on bass and Néstor Astarita on drums —both part of Gato Barbieri's rhythm section in the early 60s— and Chino Rossi —responsible for much of the unusual percussion and special effects that give the album its unprejudiced aura— complete the line-up of Blues para un Cosmonauta.

A sweet set of 70s spiritual jazz from Argentine tenor player Chivo Borraro – one of his best albums of the time, and a really wonderful session with lots of nice touches! The record features Borraro playing keyboard effects, in addition to his usual tenor – and it also features some additional keyboards by Fernando Gelbard, who plays both Fender Rhodes and ring modulator on the album, working things wonderfully as he did on his own albums of the time. This wealth of keyboards gives the album a spacious feel – keys soaring out into space, creating platforms for solo work on sax, and a space to showcase the talents of Stenio Mendes, who plays the 12-stringed craviola on the album. There's lots of post-Coltrane exploration to the record.

Horacio Borraro - 1966 - El Nuevo Sonido Del ''Chivo'' Borraro

Horacio Borraro
1966
El Nuevo Sonido Del ''Chivo'' Borraro




01. Charlie's Blues 6:40
02. La Paz 5:20
03. Half And Half 5:20
04. Summertime 5:50
05. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 9:00

Contrabass – Alfredo Remus
Drums – Eduardo Casalla
Piano – Fernando Gelbard
Tenor Saxophone – Horacio Borraro



“Goat” Borraro, first a clarinetist and later a tenor saxophone, was born in 1925 in Buenos Aires, into a family of non-professional musicians who graduated from a conservatory. He began playing in neighborhood clubs whose dances had typical and jazz bands as their main number. The first relevant group that he joined, the Rhythm Makers, was one of the first Buenos Aires experiences in search of pure, non-danceable jazz that cultivated the Chicago style. Conceived by students from the Faculty of Architecture, they did not release commercial records, although their name endured for pursuing the supremacy of improvisational practice. The Rhythm Makers were to '40s and '50s jazz what alternative bands were to '90s rock, with the difference that none of them managed or wanted to cross the line that limits what is minority from what is massive. He participated in the Hot Club, from which he left in open dissent in 1954, to join the first great modern band led by Lalo Schiffrin.

In a personal letter reproduced in his autobiography, he would write years later: "[...] tell the members of the Board of Directors of the Hot Club that I have reserved a place for them in the ark that I plan to build, since it is my wish that no animal species is left without representation within it.

At the Bop Club he won the annual poll for best clarinetist year after year, until thanks to a loan from drummer Pichi Mazzei he was able to acquire his tenor sax.

A wonderfully edgey album -- and a lost classic of South American jazz! The album's a rare 1966 set cut by Argentinian tenorist Chivo Borraro and his quartet -- done in a style that uses some fantastic influences from American modal and soul jazz of the 60s, filtered through some of the freer rhythms of the European scene of the same time. There's a number of cuts on here that remind us of the best expatriot work of American player Nathan Davis -- raw and emotive playing, yet always swinging as much as possible

Enrico Rava - 1977 - Quotation Marks

Enrico Rava
1977
Quotation Marks



01. Espejismo Ratonera
02. Short Visit To Malena
03. Sola
04. San Justo
05. Water Kite
06. Quotation Marks / Naranjales
07. Melancolia De Las Maletas

Trumpet – Enrico Rava
Bandoneon – Rodolfo Mederos (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Bass – Herb Bushler (tracks: 2,6,7)
Bass – El Negro Gonzales (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Drums – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 2,6,7)
Drums – Nestor Astarita (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Guitar – John Abercrombie (tracks: 2,6,7)
Ricardo Lew (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Marimba, Percussion – Warren Smith (tracks: 2,6,7)
Percussion – El Chino Rossi (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Percussion – Ray Armando (tracks: 2,6,7)
Piano – Matias Pizarro (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Piano, Synthesizer – David Horowitz (tracks: 2,6,7)
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Percussion – Finito Bingert (tracks: 1,3,4,5)
Vocals – Jeanne Lee (tracks: 2,6,7)

Artist credited as "Rava" on jacket (front, back & spine) and Enrico Rava on center labels
Recorded in New York, December '73 at Blue Rock Studios (A2, B2, B3)
Recorded in Buenos Aires, April '74 at Audion Studio (A1, A3 to B1)



“Quotation Marks” was a milestone for Italian trumpeter, now ECM mainstay, Enrico Rava. In addition to being his first of many projects on Manfred Eicher’s watch, it was his debut as leader. The record blends two sessions into a seamless program. The first (December 1973) went down in New York City, where he was backed by guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Jack DeJohnette, keyboardist David Horowitz, bassist Herb Bushler, and percussionists Ray Armando and Warren Smith. The second (April 1974) placed Rava in Buenos Aires alongside Radolfo Mederos on bandoneón, Finito Bingert on tenor sax and flute, Matias Pizarro on piano, Ricardo Lew on guitar, and percussionists Nestor Astarita and El Chino Rossi.

Of this fine assembly, Mederos’s sound rings foremost. His lovely bellows open “Espejismo Ratonera” with a lilting air before Pizarro’s smooth pianism flushes its alleys clear for less straightforward melodic explorations. Touches of tango warm the cockles, making for an easy, patient entrance to Rava’s dancing grammar. Youth and joy are obvious in his playing, which by a clever turning of the knob bleeds back into the bandoneón with which the track began. American jazz vocalist Jeanne Lee sings lyrics by Argentine poet Mario Trejo in the “Short Visit To Malena” that follows. It too benefits from studio subtleties, fading in as if we were being escorted from one nightclub to another. We seem to wander in at mid-song and notice the crowd sipping their cocktails, arriving just in time for Rava’s trade-off to Abercrombie. (I cannot help but be reminded at this point, if you’ll forgive the comparison, of “Club Tropicana” by Wham!, which begins outside and plunges the listener into a club atmosphere once the door is opened.) “Sola” throws us headlong into the bounce of the South American band. A flute solo here from Bingert stands as the album’s highlight. Like a light streaking before an open lens, it lingers against the skip of bandoneón and snare. The track fades all too soon, just as Lew catches a tailwind. “San Justo” is another horizontal with dissonant verticals from Mederos and a gritty prison break from Lew. Lee rejoins the cast for the heavenly watercolors of the title track before her cathartic leaps float amid a heady beat of brassy beauty, while in the steady groove of “Melancolia De Las Maletas” she adds flips and dips. All of this gives plenty of ground for Rava to unleash his confidence, handing it over to Abercrombie for a crunchy and edible passage.

We know these musicians are capable of incendiary moves, which renders their restraint (and the occasional burst) all the more intense. Rava especially takes time to introduce himself into nearly every tune. Even those like “Water Kite” cloak him in a deceptively thematic role before asserting his personality at stage center. It is a testament to his maturity as a young player and deference to the talents with which he finds himself. The result is an unspoiled gem in the Rava discography that is more than worth the import price if you can afford it.

Liner notes by Minoru Wakasugi that accompany the 2006 Japanese reissue, especially because the album has since become available far more cheaply via digital download, sans booklet:

Now available for the first time on CD is Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava’s 1973 work “Quotation Marks”, which shuffles together a New York session recorded that same year (tracks 2, 6, 7) and another recorded in Buenos Aires the following.

The story behind the South American session and its journey to CD is as vivid as the music’s colors.

At the very least, we can think of this record as marking the beginning of Rava’s relationship with Latin music. Since the 80s, imprints such as Soul Note (Italy) have boasted similar, richly hued sounds, but among ECM’s productions throughout the 70s there was nothing that so vividly repainted the label’s image. Unable to move about as he’d wished, and in something of a quagmire as he pondered his solo debut, Rava, no doubt inspired by ECM owner Manfred Eicher’s philosophy and the image he’d established, felt this was a good way to go.

Such instability wasn’t unknown to Eicher, as it had defined the young label’s activities thus far. Although that same year saw the production of Jazz a Confronto 14 – Enrico Rava on the Italian Horo label, by then the groundwork had already been laid in a slew of formative records.

And let us not forget his participation in soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy’s 1966 The Forest and the Zoo, also recorded in Buenos Aires. Although that album took him in an entirely unrelated musical direction, Rava’s first South American experience surely stirred the Latin blood lurking within him.

Not long after, he traveled to New York in 1967. In making the transition from the rundown streets of Buenos Aires to those of another metropolis, Rava was baptized in the waters of authentic free jazz. He returned home temporarily, only to find himself back in the Big Apple, by which time seven years had passed. In that period, he’d played with Carla Bley in the pianist-composer’s large-scale project Escalator Over the Hill (1971). Seeing as Bley’s WATT label had direct business relations with ECM, it was perhaps inevitable that Rava would come to know Eicher.

Living in a racial and cultural melting pot like New York placed Rava at world center. It was more than just a dollop of land in the eastern U.S.; it was a crucible of global influences that seeped into every part of the city and led him to Buenos Aires a second time.

He drew up his first South American sketch with Pupa o Crisalide, released on Vista (Italy), known for producing artists like Duško Gojković. Featuring such talents as Italy-based Brazilian percussionist Mandrake, the album was oriented more toward Brazilian fusion than Argentine tango and gained popularity even among the young club crowd. It was also my introduction to Rava.

One can hear from Pupa o Crisalide just how fulfilling his time in Buenos Aires was. He produced quite a few recordings there, and from them a wonderful body of work. “Quotation Marks” was essentially culled from the Vista outtakes.

Uniformity reigns in Pupa o Crisalide. And although the present CD is three recordings in one, laid down in Buenos Aires, New York (alternate takes), and locally in Rome, one can read balance into their triangular interrelationship. The colors are uniform, maintaining as they do a consistent temperature and climate.

On the other hand, it is also a sound-world where, by virtue of its intermingling, warmth and coldness, brightness and darkness butt up against one another, so that their urban commonalities come about through subtle variations. The stability of Pupa o Crisalide, then, no longer applies.

Not that “Quotation Marks” needs it. With Rava’s reverberant blat and tenacity, it obscures melancholy and sordidness, finding among the urban sprawl an inner spiritual world hitherto unseen. It is the same power of spirit that moves the Piazzolla Quintet’s Piazzolla at the Philharmonic Hall New York (1965) and anticipates the “neighborhood music” of Kip Hanrahan (of American Clavé fame) by decades.

None of this means that Rava was necessarily ready to jump the gun as leader, for he inevitably took on the “colors” of his costars, all of whom helped to draw out his magnetic attraction. Nevertheless, he made a huge impression. More than Rava’s skills and such, it was his commitment to a total concept that won listeners over, and the effect was incalculable. The combination with bandoneón was unique at the time, although now it will readily put ECM fans in mind of Dino Saluzzi. It was nothing so original as taking Saluzzi’s unique ambience and meshing it with the unsettling melodies of tango, but still one caught a glimpse of ECM’s innovation for treating the bandoneón as primary actor.

Rodolfo Mederos, who held the key to the South American session, is a bandoneón player of a generation younger than Saluzzi. And while he cherished his instrument as if he’d inherited it from Piazzolla himself, he also formed a rock-leaning band called Generación Cero (Generation Zero), and for a time was involved in activities that would seem to go against the Piazzolla grain. Nowadays we can chalk up these exploits to youthful indiscretion and self-reformation, but we need only look at tango master Osvaldo Pugliese, whose compositions were already heralding a new age of performance, to see their importance.

Ricardo Lew (guitar), Matias Pizarro (piano), and Nestor Astarita (drums), who assisted in Rava’s South American sketches with Mederos, were always looking to attract other local players. Pizzaro in particular was a central figure during this period in promoting and developing “folklorization,” an underground style of Andean fusion. Its effects continue to be an inspiration for modern-day outfits, like France’s Gotan Project, which trace their roots directly to tango. Along with late bombo drummer Domingo Cura (1929-2004), who inspired a reassessment of the genre from behind the scenes, these artists have charted the modernization of Andean music. We may not lay the same claims on “Quotation Marks”, but because we’re unveiling the album at this historical moment, in 2006, it is important to tease out the effects of everything going on around it. (Translation ©2013 Tyran Grillo)

Enrico Rava - 1975 - Pupa O Crisalide

Enrico Rava 
1975 
Pupa O Crisalide



01. Pupa O Crisalide 4:06
02. C.T.'s Dance 6:45
03. Tsakwe 8:12
04. El Samba Graciela 4:11
05. Revisione Del Processo N. 6 10:28
06. Lingua Franca 4:37
07. Giromondo (Per Piccoli Feddayn, Terzi Bimbi Ed Altri Mutanti) 3:37

Bandoneon – Rodolfo Mederos (tracks: 4,5,6,7)
Bass – Giovanni Tommaso (tracks: 1,7)
Bass – Herb Bushler (tracks: 2,3)
Double Bass – El Negro Gonzales (tracks: 4,5,6,7)
Drums – Bruno Biriaco (tracks: 1,7)
Drums – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 2,3)
Drums – Nestor Astarita (tracks: 4,5,6)
Electric Guitar – John Abercrombie (tracks: 2,3)
Electric Guitar – Ricardo Lew (tracks: 4,5,6)
Guitar – Michele Ascolese (tracks: 1,7)
Percussion – Mandrake (tracks: 1,7)
Percussion – El Chino Rossi (tracks: 4,5,6)
Percussion – Ray Armando (tracks: 2,3)
Percussion – Warren Smith (tracks: 2,3)
Piano – Franco D'Andrea (tracks: 1,7)
Piano – Matias Pizzarro (tracks: 4,5,6)
Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer – David Horowitz (tracks: 2,3)
Saxophone [Tenor], – Tommaso Vittorini (tracks: 1,7)
Saxophone [Tenor], Flute – Finito Ginbert (tracks: 4,5,6,7)
Trumpet – Enrico Rava

Recorded on 15-16 July 1974 in Rome (1,7), in December 1973 in New York (2,3), in April 1974 in Buenos Ayres (4,5,6).

Companion to Enrico Rava - Quotation Marks as these are from the same recording sessions.




Enrico Rava was first Italian jazz artist,representing the country at international level.He was born in Trieste in 1939 - I know this town well, and believe me - it is not real Italy!Being independent town-state for years (last time - for some years after WWII),with long history being a part of Austria, this place is a strange mix of Roman and Germanic culture (with light Balkan flavor and Adriatic breeze as two important ingredients).At the same time it has that characteristic Adriatic coastal town atmosphere with central city square opened to sea, narrow streets,all coming from hilly suburbs to central square and smell of roasted chestnuts on every yard in August...Rava's music at its best is a product of this town - mix of Central European and Italian culture with scent of Adriatic spirit.

Rava's early works are strongly influenced by Miles Davis music and (fortunately!) almost don't include that honey-sweet South European melodies and over-emotional sentimentality that can destroy even good composition."Pupa O Crisalide " was recorded with three different ensembles in three different continents and naturally contains quite various music.

Album's opener and closer both were recorded in Rome with Italian musicians, and are closest to Rava's later "Italian recordings". Still Miles Davis influences are obvious.Rest of vinyl side A was recorded in New York with American septet (including such musicians as John Abercrombie (on electric guitar) and drummer Jack DeJohnette),them are strongest albums part. Similar to Miles Davis electric fusion period,music here is a bit warmer,more aerial and a bit softer, but sounds excellent (if not extremely original).

Two left album's compositions were recorded in Buenos Aires with Argentinian musicians and contains music,influenced by Latin fusion. Overall album is very variable and has some really strong moments.Very soon Enrico will start working for ECM and his music will become much more predictable.

Enrico Rava's the one musician who's almost unanimously credited abroad to have invented Italian Jazz. As a matter of fact, he was the one who first got some important international recognization back in the early Seventies, and brought the attention of foreign jazz listeners to our rising Italian scene.

"Pupa o crisalide" isn't his most acclaimed record, but it's my favourite one. It's a good summary of the first phase of his solo career, and it contains tracks recorded with three different ensembles: an all-Italian line-up for the opener and closer - recorded in Rome, an Argentinian octet for the B-side of the lp - recorded in Buenos Aires, and finally an impressive American septet (just two names: Jack DeJohnette, John Abercrombie) for the A-side, recorded in New York.

The musical style clearly reflects the composite nature of the album. The first half is funkier, edgier and more fiery, evidently influenced by the jazz-rock/fusion tendencies that were spreading during those years. The second one is more placid and skippy, and elegantly incorporates some latin/samba elements in the alchemy.

The two halves are held together by the timbric similarity of the line-ups (which feature almost the same elements), and by Enrico Rava's renown trumpet style. Often compared to Miles Davis and Kenny Wheeler, his technique envisages rarefied notes, full of ambience, and erratic melodic lines which surprisingly do not undermine the "presence" of his trumpet sound. On the contrary, Rava's trumpet charisma seems to emerge right from this amazing equilibrium of detachedness and red-bloodedness.

A totally wonderful early project from trumpeter Enrico Rava – very different than just about anything we've ever heard from him, as the record's bubbling over with joy and life, and seems to encompass a globe's worth of influences! Rava's trumpet gets plenty of showcase in the set, amidst instrumentation that changes up wonderfully throughout the course of the album – an ever-shifting array of electric and acoustic instruments, with plenty of added percussion at the bottom, and nice use of bandoneon on a few tracks too! Yet that's only the tip of the iceberg – as the record has so much going on, it's a bit hard to put in words – yet all of it makes wonderful sense.