For those not in the know, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most versatile and sought-after bassists, Phil Ravita leads Ravita Jazz and appears with many other jazz and classical ensembles and orchestras.

He has shared the stage with such jazz greats as Jimmy Heath, Bobby Shew, Claudio Roditi, and Ruby Glover, appearing in countless clubs, concert halls, and festivals. He can be heard on numerous recordings. He won critical acclaim for his work with Grasso-Ravita Jazz Ensemble on the group’s highly praised 2021 recording Jagged Spaces.

In April 2023, he released Oriana with Ravita Jazz and this past May the band released their brand new album Alice Blue. In the liner notes, jazz journalist and author Raul d’Gama Rose writes: “Throughout Alice Blue the poetics of musical tradition are impressively maintained. The balance of melody, harmony and rhythm present in compositions and improvisation make this an album worth adding to your collection.”

1. Broken Light [4:03]
2. From the Start [4:10]
3. Alice Blue [5:34]
4. Almost Blue [5:09]
5. I Can’t Stand the Rain [5:04]
6. Fool in the Rain/Sunny Side of the Street [5:04]
7. Hereafter [5:17]
8. Blackout [4:29]
9. Golden Sky [2:59]
10. Signal & Noise [4:22]

Recorded at Omega Recording Studios in Rockville, Maryland, this vibrantly emotional journey through original compositions and creative reimagining opens on the highly engaging Broken Light and the bossa nova vocal suave of From the Start and then we get the emotively sculpted bossa nova-hued title track Alice Blue, the swirling Almost Blue and a dutifully grooved rendition of the Peebles/Bryant/Miller soul classic I Can’t Stand the Rain.

Along next is the magnificently elegant dualist Fool in the Rain/Sunny Side of the Street (Jones/Page/Plant + Fields/McHugh) which is in turn followed smartly by the atmospheric Hereafter (Greg Small), the low slung and simply divine Blackout, the set rounding out on the gently fervent Golden Sky, coming to an all too soon close on the all-embracing ebb and flow of Signal & Noise (Greg Small).

Musicians:
Mark Leppo - vibraphone & congas
Phil Ravita - acoustic bass and electric 6-string bass
Paul Carr - tenor and soprano saxophone
Greg Small – piano
Nuc Vega - drums
Deirdre Jennings - vocals

Official Website

Ravita Jazz @ Instagram