Enrico Rava

Milan, January 1973. Enrico Rava, thirty-three, back from New York and the years with Steve Lacy and Carla Bley, records his second album as a leader with three Americans: John Abercrombie on guitar, Bruce Johnson on bass and Chip White on drums. MPS/BASF released it the same year.

Rava has called Katcharpari his breakthrough, the record that made Manfred Eicher pay attention and led to the ECM contract. Heard now it sits with the electric jazz of the moment, the Miles of Bitches Brew, Ian Carr's Nucleus, without sounding like any of them: South American folk, Mediterranean melody, free jazz and rock in one band.

Seven tracks in thirty-eight minutes. Bunny's Pie is a two-minute rubato opening that trails into Trial N. 5, uptempo, with Abercrombie and Rava trading solos. Dimenticare Stanca begins as a ballad and turns into funk. The title piece has the cadence of an Andean folk song. Fluid Connection rides a bass riff. Cheerin' Cherry, nine minutes, is for Don Cherry and takes a North African route. Johnson's Peace closes in ninety seconds. MPS's own reissue text describes Abercrombie in the early stages of his career and Rava already at the height of his powers.

Japanese CD edition from Solid's MPS series.