Enrico Rava

  Katcharpari is the second solo album by Italian jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava, recorded and released in January 1973 and considered a cornerstone of the jazz-rock/fusion genre. Recorded in Milan and released on the German label BASF, Rava himself described it as his "breakthrough album." Thanks to the critical acclaim this work received, Rava caught the attention of Manfred Eicher, leading to his historic collaboration with ECM Records. The lineup accompanying the Italian trumpeter included Bruce Johnson - bass, John Abercrombie - guitar and Chip "Superfly" White - drums.

Katcharpari best represents the cosmopolitan vision of Enrico Rava, a musician who since the early 1970s has been modeling his personal musical approach on the mixture of genres and stylistic influences originating from various countries around the world: South American and Mediterranean music, free jazz, rock, world music; it also features electric sounds, mixing jazz improvisation with rhythms and tones typical of 70s rock and fusion. If you're a fan of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew-era, Ian Carr's Nucleus, Return to Forever, you can't miss it.

The seven tracks on Katcharpari are inspired and refreshing. "Bunny's Pie" introduces the music with an almost cosmic atmosphere of suspense as it trails off and into the up-tempo vibrant frenzy of "Trial N. 5" with swirling solos by Abercrombie and Rava. Rava's expressive balladic intro to "Dimenticare Stanca" transforms into funk, with guitar and trumpet steering over the rhythmic drive. The title piece has the lyrical feel and cadence of an Incan-Peruvian folksong, whereas with its funky bass riff, "Fluid Connection" rides the fusion wave with standout trumpet and guitar solos. Paying homage to the influential trumpeter and avant-garde icon Don Cherry, "Cheerin' Cherry" explores a North African soundscape, and Bruce Johnson's "Peace" offers a serene one-and-a-half-minute blissful ballad.

Producer and label boss Pellicciotti sets out his musical philosophy: musicians are interpreters of "a new way of communication, an instinctive and ancestral force which is within all peoples...music without frontiers which is not easy, or intellectual...a flux of vital stimulating energy which involves us down to our intimate roots...avant-garde music which is fresh and vibrant like a living thing".

To this day, the album continues to enjoy an excellent reputation among fans, praised for its sound quality and energetic performances. This audiophile reissue, made from the original masters, pressed by Pallas in Germany on 180gm vinyl and featuring a thick, laminated hand-glued cardboard gatefold cover, does full justice to the original, now a collector's item.