Enrico Rava - The Pilgrim and the Stars

[GA Russell]

I opened up an album today that I have enjoyed so much I played it through four straight times. It's an Enrico Rava album from 1975 called The Pilgrim and the Stars.

This is a quartet with Rava on trumpet, John Abercrombie on guitar, Palle Danielsson on bass and Jon Christensen on drums. It was recorded in Ludwigsburg, a German city seven miles from Stuttgard.

I spent most of the 70s listening to Canterbury prog rock. In the early 80s I found a mail order source for European fusion cutouts from the mid- to late-70s. I bought quite a number (or at least what seemed like a lot at the time! Compared to what some of us get today, maybe not so much!). Those were good times, listening to people I had never heard of before, and for the most part haven't heard of since.

This Rava album is much like the albums I got then - more free than the jazz rock of Larry Coryell and Steve Marcus, and less funky than what Herbie Hancock was doing. It's easy to hear something from the 50s and 60s, and make a pretty good guess from the style as to when it was recorded. So I have the same feeling listening to this that it sounds like mid-70s European fusion because it sounds like the records I had so many years ago and have been packed away (and unheard) for years.

For me, Jon Christensen on the drums makes the album. Rava has a beautiful tone, of course.

Now whether I am enjoying this so much because of the music itself or because it reminds me of music from my younger days is hard to say. But I'm sure that this will be getting a lot of play in my house.

By the way, this is one of the ECM Touchstone series. It is the only Touchstone that was not previously released in the US.

[Aggie87]

I've had this one for a while and like it. Didn't know it had been one of the reissues.

I lived in Stuttgart for 5 years and loved it. There was a good, frequent "Cd Boerse" (record/cd convention) in Ludwigsburg that I used to go to all the time there.

Ludwigsburg also has a beautiful baroque palace from the 1700's:

Edited October 20, 2008 by Aggie87

[Aggie87]

By the way, there's already a thread on this release here (which JMJK started, despite my post being the first), though parts of it are typical arguing between some of us.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Aggie87

[GA Russell]

By the way, there's already a thread on this release here (which JMJK started, despite my post being the first), though parts of it are typical arguing between some of us.

You've got me laughing out loud, Aggie!

1) On the one hand, I'm glad you linked to that thread. It didn't occur to me that there would already be a thread on the album.

2) On the other hand, that thread is an argument about everything under the sun, and never gets around to discussing the album!

Well, here's a thread about the album in which the music can be discussed!

I've just gone through the seven pages of the ECM Touchstones thread, just to refresh my recollection. As BMG gets more and more ECMs, it wouldn't surprise me if they carry these Touchstones too. But if CD Universe is selling them for only $8.99, why wait five months for BMG to get them in and sell them for only two dollars less?

[tonym]

I can only repeat what I said here.

An outstanding album and one of my first ECM's.

Might have to dig it out tonight before bed.

[7/4]

I need a copy on CD, I haven't heard it in a zillion years.

[Aggie87]

I need a copy on CD, I haven't heard it in a zillion years.

Ahem...

[7/4]

I need a copy on CD, I haven't heard it in a zillion years.

Ahem...

I already have it on vinyl. Like I wrote, I haven't heard it in a zillion years.

[WorldB3]

I picked it up a couple weeks ago. Love it, one of may all time favorite Abercrombie sessions, agree that Jon Christensen makes the record.