Enrico Rava

Rava String Band is the album trumpeter Enrico Rava recorded for Soul Note at Barigozzi Studio in Milan on April 11 and 12, 1984, with a string quartet in place of the usual horns and the Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos beside drummer Tony Oxley. It came out the same year. Rava is the only wind player on the record, so his trumpet and flugelhorn carry the melodies against bowed strings, electric guitar, bass and two percussionists. The cover painting is by Altan.

The band joins guitarist Augusto Mancinelli, bassist Giovanni Tommaso, Oxley and Vasconcelos, who plays berimbau, gongs and percussion and also sings, with a quartet of first violinist Roberto Marchio, Alberto Stagnoli on second violin, Gabriella Guida on viola and Bernardino Penazzi on cello. The record was recorded and mixed at Barigozzi, and Nat Hentoff wrote the liner notes. Eight pieces move between short sketches and long ones. Verde Que Eu Te Quero Ver opens at under four minutes, and the title track String Band follows at seven. Still Life lasts less than a minute, while More From Giulietta is the longest piece at ten. Operetta and A Note Is A Note complete the first half, Chananà leads into the long piece, and Sensatez closes the set.

This is the Soul Note CD 121114-2, which Discogs lists as a reissue of the album first released in 1984 as SN 1114.