“Orvieto” is Chick Corea’s first new ECM recording in 27 years. Many of his early landmark recordings appeared on the label, including Circle’s “Paris Concert”, “Crystal Silence” with Gary Burton, and the eponymous debut of “Return To Forever”. Near the beginning of his label discography are the two volumes of solo “Piano Improvisations” from 1971, important discs which launched a great tradition of solo piano music on ECM, and were soon followed by Keith Jarrett’s “Facing You” and Paul Bley’s “Open, To Love”.

Stefano Bollani’s “Piano Solo” album of 2005 belongs to this distinguished tradition. Other ECM recordings by Bollani include “Stone In The Water” with his ‘Danish trio’ with Jesper Bodilsen (double-bass) and Morten Lund (drums), “Tati” with Enrico Rava and Paul Motian and a Rava/Bollani duo disc, “The Third Man”. He can also be heard on Rava’s “Easy Living” and “New York Days” discs.

Bollani was born in Milan in 1972. Corea – who recently celebrated his 70th birthday – was born in Massachusetts in 1941. Yet differences of age and experience are levelled by a shared eagerness to play, by a shared love of melody and jazz drive, and by the open-mindedness, quick-wittedness and playfulness common to both players. Here are ‘old’ and ‘new’ masters in accord, indeed.