Bruce Ackley racconta le vicende collegate alla nascita del Rova nella Bay Area californiana del 1977, i primi mesi subito fitti di impegni per il quartetto sassofonistico tra prove, registrazioni, commissioni e concerti e i (pochi) cambi di formazione intervenuti via via nel tempo salvaguardando tuttavia l'acronimo scelto come nome fin dall'inizio. E' il decimo capitolo di un'interessante serie retrospettiva su Substack dal titolo Rova Scope. Scrive Ackley: "When I got the call in 1977 to bring a group to the Third Annual Free Music Festival in the Bay Area I immediately thought: 'saxophone quartet'. Larry, Jon and I had been in regular contact for a couple of years, playing together, performing and talking music. Knowing they were kindred spirits made them obvious choices for the quartet. The initial fourth member and first baritone player, Tony Blase, was the Pete Best of the yet-to-be-named foursome. After 3 months of rigorous rehearsals, he decided to depart from the band to return to school. Right in time, Jon’s friend, Andrew Voigt, returned to the Bay Area after having spent time in Michigan studying with Roscoe Mitchell. He joined up with us and, seeing the pending concert staring us down, we were forced to name the ensemble, defaulting to the acronym R-O-V-A, Rova."
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