Label: ECM Records, 2022

Personnel - Enrico Rava: flugelhorn; Fred Hersch: piano.

Italian trumpeter and flugelhornist Enrico Rava and American pianist Fred Hersch have been performing in a variety of settings for more than five decades, showing a particular fondness for the duo format. Rava paired up with other pianists in the past such as Enrico Pieranunzi, Ran Blake, and Stefano Bollani, whereas Hersch established duo associations with vocalist Jay Clayton, guitarist Bill Frisell, reedist Michael Moore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi. The Song is You marks their first musical encounter on record, as well as Hersch's first appearance on the ECM Records.

With the natural ability to find their own spaces, the duo embarks on a set of ballad standards, one casual improvisation, and one original from each musician. They belt the poignant Brazilian poem “Retrato em Branco e Preto” - composed by Tom Jobim and Chico Buarque - with that genuine pathos that serves so well the emotionally driven style of Rava. Hersch is pretty efficient both in his harmonic choices and improvised abandonment. The following number, “Improvisation”, is exactly what the title suggests. They opt not to speed up, maintaining a similar flow of the aforementioned song but going motivic in the communication.

Hersch’s mature original “Child’s Song” was written for the late bassist Charlie Haden and plays like a lullaby smoothed out by beautiful melody. In turn, Rava’s “The Trial”, formerly included on the albums Noir (1996) and Happiness is (2003), lets us realize that a rich sound can have a light touch.

Regardless of the originals added, Rava and Hersch don’t take particularly new directions here, but their interpretation of standards always brings subtle variations and transformative ideas to the table. This is the case with the stripped-down version of “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”, which rises into staccato piano comping and unabashed brass emotion; and “The Song is You”, another ballad that goes abstract up to a point in its denouement. The infrequent risk-taking factor is still spotted on Monk’s classic “Misterioso”, a ride that, going from quiet to playful, has Hersch exploring wonderful intervals and chord sequences around which Rava’s horn hovers and darts with poise. The album is finalized in solo piano mode with “Round Midnight”, another paradigmatic tune drawn from Monk’s repertoire.

This is not a mandatory listening, but a competent jazz recording with a few intimate musical moments to admire.