Recorded in June 2003, Easy Living is a wonderful return to the ECM label by Italy's best-known contemporary trumper player, heard in the now rubato, now up-and-grooving company of compatriots Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Stefano Bollani (piano), Rosario Bonaccorso (bass) and Robert Gatto (drums). With the exception of the lovely standard that gives the release its title, all the compositions are by Rava. The short and intensely poetic meditation that is "Blancasnow" reveals the mature depths of the leader's burnished, wide-open tone at its best, and is in fact a reprise one of the loveliest pieces on Rava's 1975 ECM debut release The Pilgrim and the Stars. Elsewhere, Rava's trademark, yet endlessly fresh transmutations of the lyric are set within largely consonant territory. If a good deal of this music cultivates a liquid or mellow note, tracks such as "Traveling Night" and "Hornette and the Drums Thing" kick in plenty hard, while the propulsive piano fun of "Algir Dalbughi" is straight out of Paolo Conte territory. Superb music throughout, in every way.