Ryan Keberlé – Reverso – Between Two Silences

There are some instrumental combinations whose unlikely marriage gives an unconventional partnership a charm all its own, surprising and difficult to classify. It is on this journey between two silences that trombonist Ryan Keberle, accompanied by piano and cello, invites us.

Conceived as a tribute to the unconventional compositions of Erik Satie, the trio revisits innovative forms already explored in evocative readings of music by Ravel, Poulenc and Honegger. A formula that has been tried before, then, but one that once again leads us into original compositions belonging to a contemporary strain of what might be called “chamber jazz.”

The reading is questioning, at times melancholic, and naturally lends itself to reverie, following in the footsteps of Satie’s harmonic audacity. Not to mention the wonderfully offbeat titles (The Cat Who Ate Clouds, Waltz of the Headless Hats…).

Keberle’s trombone moves through soaring lines that bring it close to the slow progression of Vincent Courtois’ cello bow, both instruments sliding, languid yet precise, through the full intensity of their respective registers. Into this dialogue comes the restrained fervour of pianist Frank Woeste, who at times murmurs a plaintive, Satie-like melody, and at others lets jazz chords ring out, perfectly matching the breath and resonance of the strings (Pleasant Despair).

An album built on contrasts of sound, unfolding in an atmosphere that draws on the bold advances of modern jazz while somehow rooting itself in the questioning spirit of the Romantic nineteenth century.

The trombone playing is powerful, without unnecessary staccato, perfectly supported by a cello that, for the occasion, might almost be considered a second wind instrument (Melancholic Ghost Café). What emerges is a surprising musical tale whose overall acoustic landscape plays not only with timbre, but with time itself. Which era are we actually hearing? Satie’s, or that of contemporary jazz?

Probably both. And that is precisely what gives this trio, and its compositions, their originality.