Thursday, August 5, 2010

Ryan Keberle: Heavy Dreaming

Alternate Side Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 8.5.10
Buy CD: Heavy Dreaming


Trombonist/composer Ryan Keberle was just 20 years old when he arrived in New York City in 1980.

He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and Jazz At Juilliard's, and it didn't take long for him to become a sought-after musician.

Great trombonists once were a relatively rare breed; you'd have trouble listing a dozen. During the big band days, Tommy Dorsey led the way, but he definitely wasn't a jazz artist; then things changed when Bill Harris joined Woody Herman's various herds. J.J. Johnson added the horn to the bop genre and Kai Winding wasn't far behind.

Today, artists such as Keberle are keeping that wonderful instrument at the forefront of jazz.

This is the second album by Keberle's Double Quartet, which includes a second trombone, trumpet, French horn, tuba, piano, bass and drums. Keberle wrote seven tracks; the rest are covers of tunes by Ellington, Gershwin and Lennon/McCartney.

This group is creative, smooth as silk and swings nicely. It's a very promising unit.

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