Enrico Rava is a fantastic and interesting jazz trumpeter from Italy. He was first on the scene in NYC in the 60s and 70s playing with avant garde musicians. He’s recently been on tour with Dave Douglas and Avishai Cohen in the group Tea for Three. First is the interview vid, then a clip of Mr. Rava performing live from his new album Tribe. Good stuff!
Want to learn more about the best ways to practice? Get an e-mail with a discount code when The Practice of Practice by Jonathan Harnum is published (June, 2014). To learn more about the book, check out a sample from The Practice of Practice.
I found Rava’s talk about being a leader fascinating, since being a leader without being bossy is something I constantly wrestle with. Mr. Rava talks about a group being run like the Cherokee nation, and how it should be a perfect democracy. And yet, he is still unquestionably the leader of a leaderless group. He calls it a tribe. I really like that.
Rava said he tells the group that creating a piece of music is like a painting and “each one finds what to do, and what not to do.” It’s brilliant that he so offhandedly puts emphasis on the importance of not playing, something that can be difficult to learn for young improvisers.
Oh, man, here’s a live take from music in Rava’s new album, Tribe. Excuse me while I go buy it….
podcast mp3
↬thanks to Patrick Jarenwattananon from A Blog Supreme
Want to learn more about the best ways to practice? Get an e-mail with a discount code when The Practice of Practice by Jonathan Harnum is published (June, 2014). To learn more about the book, check out a sample from The Practice of Practice.
Essential Trumpet Lessons 