Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Enrico Rava: TATI
Enrico Rava: TATI
Like his near-contemporary Tomasz Stanko, Rava began his career with both feet planted in free jazz, and he has not forgotten his roots. Age may have tempered his experimentalism and directed it increasingly towards a rapprochement with melodicism, but it has not obscured it.
Rava shares this aesthetic with his two supremely compatible partners. Paul Motian is a uniquely melodic drummer, and like Rava an adagio player par excellence. The relatively young, at thirty-something, Stefano Bollani, a frequent collaborator, is blessed with a melodicism as unquenchable as Rava's, and he's as likely to dart down unexpected, half-hidden passageways.
Whether by design or accident, the edgy qualities in Rava's music become more pronounced as TATI progresses, from track five, "Mirrors," onwards. "Cornettology," at 6:36 the longest track on the album, is a salute to Ornette Coleman's early experiments, with lightning-fast interplay among all three musicians, and Motian's asymmetrical dialoging with Rava especially remarkable. More than Gershwin or Puccini, it defines what TATI is about.
Most of the material here is original, including six tracks by Rava, three by Motian, and one by Bollani, and the three voices mesh seamlessly. Only two tracks are entirely free of dark corners: Motian's Satie-esque "Birdsong" and Rava's rapturous "Golden Eyes." For the rest you can enjoy a spicy and occasionally urgent lyricism which is hugely more-ish, and likely to induce serial hitting of the repeat button.
FOLLOW Chris May
and get notified whenever Chris has a new article published.
Chris May is a senior editor of All About Jazz. He was previously the editor of the pioneering magazine Black Music & Jazz Review, and more recently editor of the style / culture / history magazine Jocks & Nerds.
Track Listing
The Man I Love; Birdsong; Tati; Casa Di Bambola; E Lucevan Le Stelle; Mirrors; Jessica Too; Golden Eyes; Fantasm; Cornettology; Overboard; Gang Of 5.
Personnel
Enrico Rava
trumpetEnrico Rava: trumpet, french horn; Stefano Bollani: piano; Paul Motian: drums.
Album information
Title: Tati | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: ECM Records
About Enrico Rava
Tags
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Become a Sustaining Member
Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.
Help Build the Future of All About Jazz
Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.
Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.
Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.
