Recorded live for
ECM in 2018 at Rome's Auditorium Parco Della Musica,
Roma is the engaging debut collaboration between trumpeter
Enrico Rava and saxophonist
Joe Lovano. Although both artists are masterful improvisers known for their lithe approaches to modern jazz, their intense compatibility displayed throughout
Roma might seem from the outside an unlikely event. While
Rava made his
ECM debut with 1975's classic The Pilgrim and the Stars, it wasn't until 2019 that
Lovano joined the label with his textural, atmospheric
Trio Tapestry. In the intervening years between those two albums, the two initially disparate artists have seemingly moved ever closer.
Rava, who started his career playing free jazz, further embraced his love of
Chet Baker-esque lyricism. Conversely,
Lovano, a pillar of the acoustic post-bop tradition, continued to expand his approach, moving into ever more impressionistic tonal landscapes. They bring all of this varied experience to bear on
Roma, playing alongside an intuitive Trans-Atlantic rhythm section featuring regular
Rava associate pianist
Giovanni Guidi, longtime
Cyrus Chestnut trio member bassist
Dezron Douglas, and the engaging Detroit-born drummer
Gerald Cleaver. Together, they commune with a relaxed intensity on a handful of original compositions culled from past projects. The album opens enigmatically with
Rava's noir-ish "Interiors" from 2009's New York Days. A sultry, late-afternoon slow burner, it captures
Rava and
Lovano in a drunken conversational swoon, sparring through blue contemplation. In contrast, "Secrets," off
Rava's 1986 album of the same name, has an undulating Latin groove that swells like an ocean tide and ends in birdlike trumpet and saxophone squeals. From there, they dive into the propulsive "Fort Worth" off
Lovano's 1992 album
From the Soul, straddling the line between
Miles Davis' late-'60s modalism and
Ornette Coleman's Eastern-tinged harmolodic work-outs. Splitting the difference is
Lovano's "Divine Timing," which begins with a kinetic, rubato intro from
Cleaver that sets up an angular, paint-splattered group improv. In-the-moment interplay is also the focus of the closing "Drum Song," which builds from a yearning, minor-key bass intro into an angular back-and-forth between
Lovano and
Rava before ending in a rhapsodic evocation of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It's that back-and-forth communication between these two jazz masters that makes
Roma such a riveting experience. ~ Matt Collar