For Ryan Keberle the Trombone is Just a Vehicle

 

This interview originally aired on The Afternoon Cruise on 3/27/25

READ THE COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

It’s the Afternoon Cruise. I’m chatting with Ryan Keberle, a celebrated composer and trombone player based in New York. He’s getting ready to bring his project Reverso to Berlin for a show on Friday, April 11. Ryan, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to chat with jazz88.

 

Ryan Keberle 

It’s my pleasure. Sean, thanks for having me on

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

Now, Ryan, I actually got to this gig in 2022 and I just looked I started in March, in April of 2022 I added one of the tunes from Colectivo de Brasil. And we love catharsis. We’re actually currently spinning Throwback Moves, but we haven’t added Reverso to our playlist yet here at jazz 88 but that’s the project you’re bringing to jazz 88 and to the Twin Cities. So for folks who are familiar with you, but not with Reverso, can you tell us what’s going to be happening on stage at Berlin on the 11th of April?

 

Ryan Keberle 

Absolutely. Well, Reverso is perhaps my favorite band to play with as a trombonist. It’s a unique instrumentation. It’s trombone, myself, piano, my co leader, Frank, and cello, a wonderful French cellist named Vince Kurt, and no drums, no bass, so immediately, the sound of the band doesn’t necessarily remind listeners of that classic jazz sound, and so that’s why we’ve come to calling it chamber jazz, because I Think for a lot of listeners, it esthetically, sounds just as much like classical music or chamber music as it does jazz, depending on your background or perspective from those musical worlds. And for us, that was the point when we created this band, almost a decade ago. We were looking to find a way to channel our shared interests and love of classical music with our training and background as jazz musicians and as improvisers.

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

Now, when you work in a more traditional lineup setting, there’s sort of a convenience and sometimes a predictableness That isn’t ideal about going, Okay, I’m the trombone player. I know what I’m supposed to do. If I’m with a piano player and a guitar player and a bass player and a drummer and you go, I know where I fit. I know what octave I’ll be in. I know how not to clash. I assume that there’s actually some Sonic maybe not competition, but Sonic connections, potentially between cello and trombone, particularly, how do you find out where to go? And maybe there’s a literature this that I just don’t know about, where you go, Oh, we go through the same dances, but it’s classical. But like, how do you find is primarily a, you know, a jazz person, first and foremost, how do you find your way in when it’s a unique lineup like that?

 

Ryan Keberle 

Yeah, no, it’s a really, really great question, and it’s one that we have really had to figure out on our own, because there isn’t literature or some kind of template out there. This is there’s no other instrumentation specifically like this that I’m aware of. And if you are just looking at instrumentation, probably this, most similar comparisons would be from chamber music, say, like the piano trio with cello and violin and piano. But like I said, this is jazz. We’re improvisers at heart, and so we had to figure that out. And because we are all trained in the jazz tradition, we are thinking oftentimes about emulating the traditional jazz setup, which, as you mentioned, has a base for starters, and the base in a jazz band plays so many crucial roles, namely, providing the the foundation of the harmony, but also helping to keep time. It’s a it’s the glue, really, for the band. And so oftentimes I will play the role of the bass, because the trombone does have that bass register in the lower part of our instrument, and or Vince on the cello will play the role of the bass, and so we will kind of take turns, and then we also, of course, Frank on piano, can play that role. But ultimately, it was, it was kind of freeing, because the three of us now have developed this chemistry and the shared language and shared kind of performance practices that allow for an almost telepathic sense, like we don’t work that kind of shared responsibilities or roles out in advance. We are constantly changing and handing it off, and none of that is done through anything except sound.

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

I’m chatting with Ryan Keberle. He’s bringing his group Reverso to town, playing at Berlin on Friday, April 11. Now, Ryan, as I mentioned, one of the latest tunes we’ve been playing from your catalog is called throwback moves with your project Catharsis. And I have the honor to interview a lot of great musicians who I recognize is great, but I might not be able to hum one of their tunes. But when, when Cecilia reached out and said, Oh, you want to talk to Ryan, I went, “duh duh duh duh duh” which is, which is Throwback Moves. And as a music director, I’ll be honest with you, and I think this is a problem, people go, oh, what’s trombone record, you know? And then suddenly I get. And I go, this is this is really compelling music. You seem to be willing to curate a moment rather than just prioritize sharing the trombone side of things. And I know you, you made your living for quite some years, primarily as a piano player in New York, before you stepped up as a trombone player. How do you wear the hat as a really virtuosic trombone player, but know how to loosen that hat to some extent when it might not call for those that level of virtuosity on some songs.

 

Ryan Keberle 

Man, great question. And also, I’m flattered to hear you humming my tune. That’s always an exciting moment for any composer, especially jazz composer, because, as you said, we don’t always write the most hummable music in the world, although that’s something I definitely strive to do often. So thank you for that. That was exciting. Yeah, I think part of it is what you alluded to. I even before piano, played violin for over a decade. That was my first instrument, and then my mom is a piano teacher, and started me on piano when I was very, very young. I was playing both those instruments as four or five year old, and then so trombone was my last instrument, and although I was still young when I started playing that typical fifth, sixth grade beginning band age, I don’t think I perhaps identified as just purely a trombonist. For me, it was always more about music. And the reason I became a musician wasn’t because of an instrument, it was because of my love for music, and specifically my love for listening to music, and that’s one of the reasons that you know, I’ve had the pleasure to play with so many different wonderful band leaders and composers and all sorts of different styles. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had the opportunity to be more selective. And the bands that I still play with this is my 25th year in New York are the bands whose music I like to listen to. I only want to be making music that I also would like to sit down and listen to for pleasure. That’s why I’m a musician. And all of the projects that I lead, that is where I’m coming from. I’m trying to make music that connects with me and our band members and hopefully then with our audiences.

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

It is the afternoon cruise. I’m chatting with Ryan Keberle, who’s coming through town playing with reversal on april 11, over at Berlin. Ryan, originally, you hail from Spokane, right? That’s correct. Okay. So, as you know, from some from places that really aren’t like New York and Los Angeles, we really celebrate our own so I hap isn’t the dude from Everclear from Spokane. Is that art alaka? Yeah. So in the same way, Minnesota just wraps our roundabout. Anybody who even had a long layover in Minnesota with somehow the exception that we don’t celebrate enough the fact that Maria Schneider is from Windom, and when I was getting ready for this interview, my friend Peter Solomon, who’s a trombone player himself, said, Oh, Kimberly plays a bunch with Maria Schneider in his career. I just sort of want to give you, you know, a minute to talk about what playing her music is, particularly because you’re talking to a Minnesota radio station.

 

Ryan Keberle 

Well, I mean, when you talk to Maria, you will find out that she is Minnesotan within like, 30 seconds, she is incredibly proud of her heritage. One of the very first gigs I did with her, which was almost 20 years ago now, believe it or not, was in Windham, Minnesota, and as we rolled into Wyndham, that’s her hometown, they sent out their their antique, vintage fire truck with the sirens and lights blaring to escort us into town, down the highway, moving at like 10 miles an hour. I mean, it was such an experience. And my family is actually both my parents, both sides of my family, are from Wausau, Wisconsin. It’s not that far, three hours straight across the the interstate into Central Wisconsin. So I have deep, deep upper midwest roots. And Marie and I have always connected over that she has, over those 20 years that I’ve been playing in her band actively, and still do play in her band. She’s become a real mentor to me, in fact, perhaps the most important mentor in my life, musically, personally, kind of a big sister figure in my life. And I just think that her Midwest roots, her Minnesotan roots, are a huge part of who she is, both non musically, just in terms of the way she moves through the world, and her love for people and family values and connection, human connection, but also literally in her music, just many of the scenes that she’s used as inspiration are that of the central, upper midwest, you know, Central Minnesota landscapes and and Small Town Living. So she’s just a huge influence on me. And I think those listeners who have, have listened, or will be listening to my Reverso music will hear her influences. It’s impossible for me to not channel those influences.

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

Ryan has been honored to talk to you if you’re the person I would second most like to interview, besides for your utterly cute dog that our audience can’t see because we’re doing this for audio. But I thought the dog was either in a deep coma or. Or perhaps gone to this world until they just moved around a little bit. So before we say goodbye, can I also say hello to your sweet dog and find out what its name is?

 

Ryan Keberle 

Yeah, that’s a little stitch. We call him stitch. He’s the best, best little guy. We adopted him about about two and a half years ago.

 

Sean McPherson (Jazz88) 

Oh well, I’m sure that made for some fantastic cuddling. He looks very cuddle. Ryan, thank you for visiting with jazz 88 april 11 is the show at Berlin with Reverso. And thank you for what you’re doing. And thank you for prompting, hopefully, music directors all over the country and beyond, to take a second look at a trombone led record and go, Hey, it’s not, it’s not just going to be, you know, a slide fest. There’s more going on. And I really appreciate that you make beautiful music, my friend.

 

Ryan Keberle 

Thank you. Sean, well, the feeling is mutual. Thank you for all you do, and for the radio station for supporting live music and live jazz. We all need more of that in our lives. So thank you as well for the opportunity.

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