Reverso: Harmonic Alchemy
Outnote Records

Reverso's fourth release finds the trio taking its classical-jazz fusion to an even higher level of refinement. On their first album under the name, American trombonist Ryan Keberle, Franco-German pianist Frank Woeste, and French cellist Vincent Courtois drew for inspiration from Maurice Ravel, on their second the composers of ‘Les Six.' Building on those releases plus a live album recorded at Le Triton in Paris, the hour-long Harmonic Alchemy perpetuates the French theme by focusing on Gabriel Fauré.

In the trio's exquisitely balanced presentation, each of the musicians is integral to the performance and is credited with compositions. Reverso's playing exemplifies a remarkably fluid blend of classical and jazz. All three musicians are virtuosos equally comfortable with formally notated charts as improvising. That translates into performances where voices intertwine seamlessly and where roles constantly shift between them. While a rhythm section is absent, momentum never flags when an underlying pulse drives the music.

A natural question arises as to how much of the material is Fauré and how much Reverso. The twelve pieces aren't literal covers of the composer's music; instead, the trio, having absorbed the character of it in different ways—as a student, Courtois played many of the composer's works for cello, and Woeste's classical background included many Fauré pieces—created material, that, in Keberle's words, bear “the unique stamp of the original without being a copy.” More precisely, elements from the composer's works have been incorporated into new pieces in such a way that a discernible echo of Fauré is present, but the result is nevertheless a Reverso creation. To illustrate, after playing a sequence from Fauré's Requiem on piano multiple times, the trombonist found he'd internalized it so completely two new compositions blossomed. Such deep familiarity with the composer's writing enables the musicians to fully inhabit his world rather than approach it from the outside.

Harmonic Alchemy is an apt title for performances that are, yes, harmonious and marked by telepathic connection. The way the musicians align and separate is marvelous, and enhancing the listen even more the music often swings deliciously, the opening “Cascades” a wonderful example. Each player takes the lead at different times, with Courtois, for instance, introducing the two-part “Lointain” before Keberle partners with him in dialogue, then pairs with him for unison lines, and finally moves to the forefront as soloist. All such transitions are effected with the greatest sense of naturalness, the musicians having determined beforehand the track's structure and sequence. As spontaneous as the music sounds, it had to have been rigorously planned.

December 2022