Enrico Rava / Dino Saluzzi Quintet

Volver

In October 1986 the quintet recorded “Volver” at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg: Enrico Rava (trumpet), Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon), Harry Pepl (guitar), Furio Di Castri (bass) and Bruce Ditmas (drums).¹ The album was released on ECM; ECM dates the release to October 1987, Kohler gives 1988.² Pepl wrote “Ballentine for Valentine”, an atonal theme in odd metres, which he played in other versions as “More Far Out Than East” on “Cracked Mirrors” and as “125/250” on the Air Mail album “Light Blues”.³

The tour

Even before the recording, on Saturday, 27 September 1986, the quintet played with Pepl at the 2nd International Bilsak Jazz Festival at the Şan Tiyatrosu in Istanbul, Turkey, one evening after Pepl’s band Air Mail; it is the earliest documented performance in this line-up so far.⁴ After the recording the quintet toured Europe for about three months. On 10 October 1986 it played with the NDR Big Band (NDR: Norddeutscher Rundfunk, public broadcaster for northern Germany) at the Fabrik in Hamburg-Altona, and on 13 October at “Jazz in Gütersloh”, there with Bob Moses instead of Bruce Ditmas on drums.⁵ On Monday, 3 November 1986, the quintet played at the Festival de Jazz de Paris; Radio France, the French public radio, recorded the concert, including Pepl’s “More Far Out Than East”.⁶ For Kohler, the engagement suggests that Pepl was seen at ECM and on the European scene as a first-rate instrumentalist.⁷

Pieces for Dino Saluzzi

After the tour Pepl wrote the piece “Dinozzo”, an instant composition that he dedicated to Saluzzi; it is the closing piece on the album “N.Y.C. Impressure”.⁸ For the Ensemble Wien he composed the “Ballade for Mr. Dinozo” in 1989, likewise dedicated to Saluzzi.⁹