Ryan Keberle Double Quartet
The Ryan Keberle Double Quartet

The five Keberle originals survey a range of light and dark moods, opaque and translucent harmonies. Keberle’s agile, authoritative horn cuts through like a beacon. The interplay of the two quartets is beautifully realized, and the brass treatments themselves are rich in variety – from dense four-part interludes to soaring soli unison writing, from bold foreground to subtle background. “Wedding Music” was written at the request of pianist Kris Davis and drummer Jeff Davis and performed at their nuptials by a brass trio. Keberle then expanded it for the present group. “Something Speaking,” by contrast, he scaled down from a big band arrangement for the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble. “What Goes Around” grew out of a writing exercise assigned to Keberle by master trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. (It used to have lyrics.) The ballad “When I’m Away” has an earlier provenance – Keberle wrote it at age 19. Taken together, this music reveals a sophistication and creative restlessness that is anything but common. Conversant with the tradition but current in spirit and unique in format, it gives us reason to be optimistic for Keberle’s, and jazz’s, future.

— David Adler, 2006

Ryan Keberle Double Quartet press highlights:

“neatly layered horn passages stand out throughout the disc,
which is distinguished by Keberle’s ever-cheerful solos.”
– Jazz Times

“sprawling, multi-themed approach to composition…
Double Quartet indicates Keberle’s flowering skills as a composer and arranger”
– All About Jazz