Reverso - The Melodic Line Artist - Rochester City Newspaper

If I describe a trombone-centered album as the most dream-like record I’ve heard in years, you might imagine being jarred awake by a herd of elephants. But this trombone, expertly played by Ryan Keberle on Reverso’s “The Melodic Line,” explores the gorgeous, French horn-like side of the instrument. And when it blends with Vincent Courtois’s beautiful cello, the result is magical. All of this music is supported not by the usual rhythm section, but only by the equally exquisite piano-playing of Frank Woeste. What all three musicians have in common is a love for the intersection where classical music meets jazz. Keberle and Woeste contribute all of the compositions here, but they are steeped in the music of Les Six, a group of French composers from the early-20th century. With influences like Darius Milhaud (who taught Dave Brubeck), Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, and Germaine Tailleferre, these melodic lines go in all the right directions.