A seemingly unlikely duo at first glance, trumpeter
Enrico Rava and pianist
Fred Hersch prove to be an intuitive pairing on their first collaboration, 2022's
The Song Is You. An icon of avant-garde European jazz,
Rava has long straddled the line between lyricism and atonalism, bringing together the outré work of artists like
Ornette Coleman with the introspection of
Chet Baker. Conversely,
Hersch is the epitome of straight-ahead jazz sophistication and has earned accolades for his artful standard albums. That said, both artists have their maverick inclinations with
Rava tackling the work of
Michael Jackson (as he did on 2011's
On the Dance Floor) and
Hersch interpreting the poetry of Walt Whitman (as he did 2005's Leaves of Grass). With
The Song Is You they take a refreshingly uncomplicated approach, playing a mix of standards and originals in a laidback and off-the-cuff manner that still feels deeply thoughtful. While most of the standards here are well-worn, among them
George Bassman's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You,"
Thelonious Monk's "Mysterio," and
Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Retrato em Branco e Preto," they are anything but predictable.
Rava and
Hersch delve deep inside their combined sound, playing off each other's lines with a playful inventiveness. It's a call to adventure they maximize on "Improvisation," a wholly improvised song that has the languid, dusky impressionism of a modern classical ballet performance. Equally compelling are their renditions of their own compositions, including
Hersch's delicately rendered "Child's Song" and
Rava's "The Trial," the latter of which sounds something like a
Gerry Mulligan chamber jazz take on a tango. ~ Matt Collar