Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis – Spokane, WA

Imagine Jazz Presents: Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis at SFCC Auditorium

with Opening Act: Rachel Bade-McMurphys Glass Bead Orchestra

About Catharsis:

Led by Ryan Keberle, winner of Jazz Times’ Best Trombonist of 2020, Catharsis has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times for its “potent blend of cinematic sweep and lush, ear-grabbing melodies.” The highly acclaimed group brings together elements of chamber music, South American folk and indie rock within a traditional jazz framework, resulting in a sound that has thrilled audiences across the globe for close to a decade.

In Catharsis, the potent frontline rapport of Keberle, trumpet virtuoso, Mike Rodriguez, and guitarist/vocalist, Camila Meza, alongside the unshakable rhythm of bassist Ike Sturm and drummer Jimmy Macbride combine to form an unmistakable sound full of drama and intrigue.

The band debuted in 2012 with Music Is Emotion, followed by Into the Zone in 2014 and Azul Infinito in 2016 (the latter two released on Dave Douglas’s Greenleaf label). Billboard picked Azul Infinito as one of “five jazz albums you need to hear.” In 2017 Catharis turned its attention to political turmoil in the U.S. with the protest album Find the Common, Shine a Light, praised by The Nation as “unpretentiously intelligent and profoundly moving.” Find the Common also saw Keberle emerging as a solid performing keyboardist (his first instrument). In 2019 Keberle and Catharsis released their latest album, The Hope I Hold, with lyrics and inspiration drawn from the Langston Hughes’ poem, “Let America be America Again”. The album received critical praise from the NY Times saying “all those tones give the lovely, splayed-out energy, turning his sighing compositions, into big, open canvases” and the Wall Street Journal said the “wordless vocals, lyrics and solos emerge from gorgeous weaves of musical textures.”

Catharsis has toured internationally for years, engaging audiences at the Toronto, Ottawa, Rochester and Bergamo International Jazz Festivals, and at premier jazz clubs including Pizza Express (London), Le Duc des Lombards (Paris), Stadtgarten (Cologne), Jazz Standard and Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York) and bluewhale (Los Angeles). The band was also featured in NPR’s prestigious Tiny Desk Concert series and on the French TV channel Mezzo.

Catharsis band members bring an impressive wealth of experience of their own, playing an integral role in many of today’s foremost jazz, Latin jazz, and indie rock ensembles, including bands led by Maria Schneider, SF Jazz, Kenny Barron, Julian Lage, Chris Thile, Sufjan Stevens, and Paquito D’Rivera.