Best of 2018 #14: Ryan Keberle & Frank Woeste – “Reverso: Suite Ravel”

The bullet point list of the components to Reverso: Suite Ravel is plenty intriguing on its own.  But these arrangements of Ravel works for a chamber jazz session are so damn engrossing that the details found in the album’s liner notes just melt away.  What remains is a stunning beauty matched with an engaging liveliness… a combination that lets the listener decided whether to sink into daydreams or move through life with the album’s prevailing motions.  The combination of jazz improvisation and chamber structure don’t always make for the easiest convergence of influences, but the quartet of pianist Frank Woeste, trombonist Ryan Keberle, cellist Vincent Courtois and drummer Jeff Ballard bring it to life as if nurturing a flower to bloom from their personal mix of soil.  This album sweeps me away every time I listen.

Released on Alternate Side Records and Phonoart.

Music from New York City.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon