Ryan Keberle & Catharsis - The Hope I Hold (2019)

Having performed and collaborated with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, David Bowie, Sufjan Stevens, Ivan Lins, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Wynton Marsalis, and the Saturday Night Live house band, trombonist and composer Ryan Keberle brings these experiences to bear leading his own band, Catharsis, which has released four acclaimed studio albums.

On their new full-length album The Hope I Hold, Ryan Keberle & Catharsis are departing, expanding and progressing. It’s an album full of welcome firsts. To start, it’s the first Catharsis release to feature the genius multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson on saxophone, alongside band veterans Jorge Roeder on bass and Eric Doob on drums. It also marks the debut of Chilean artist Camila Meza as the group’s guitarist, adding to her role as vocalist.

The album also underscores Keberle’s evolving roles as well, and features him not only on trombone but on vocals and keyboards. But perhaps the most important unfolding on The Hope I Hold relates to the album’s theme of optimism in the face of political and cultural corruption. The album features lyrics drawn from “Let America Be America Again,” a virtuosic and poignant poem written by Langston Hughes in 1935 that Keberle felt compelled to incorporate into his new work.