Enrico Rava's 2004 outing, Easy Living, marked not only his return to the ECM label after a 17-year absence, but the complete maturation of his quintet, which at that time had been gigging together for four years. The Words and the Days sees most of the same band return with one major chair: Rava's great foil, pianist Stefano Bollani who released his acclaimed solo piano album on the label, has been replaced by the fluid, more percussive Andrea Pozza. The program consists of seven Rava originals, a cover of Don Cherry's Art Deco performed as a wonderfully warm and spirited duet with trombonist Gianluca Petrella, one each by drummer Roberto Gatto (Traps), and bassist Rosario Bonaccorso (Sogni Proibiti ["Forbidden Dreams"]), and a version of Russ Freeman's The Wind, written as a vehicle for the late Chet Baker. Typical of this quintet recording, Rava digs into the jazz tradition and brings to it his lyrical gift as a composer, an improvising soloist and an arranger. His reading of The Wind is a fine example. Keeping Baker's sparseness in phrase, he infuses it with the echoing presence of Petrella, playing just a shade behind the melody, and then playing only parts of it and adding a bit of humor and drama to the work to make it a bit noir-ish rather than a straight nostalgia piece. Gatto's dancing brush work adds to the present tense understanding of the tune and is underscored by Pozza's painterly piano lines. Only the bassline by Bonaccorso keeps the tune rooted in history.

1		The Words and the Days
2		Secrets
3		The Wind
4		Echoes of Duke
5		Tutù
6		Sogni Proibiti
7		Todamor
8		Serpent
9		Art Deco
10		Traps
11		Bob the Cat
12		Doctor Ra and Mr. Va