Brass Tacks and Bold Sounds: Trombonists on the Edge

The new episode of the Right Brain Music Podcast focuses on an intriguing instrument and several master improvisers who are redefining its possibilities . I’m talking about the trombone. Click below to listen, and read on for more.

The name of the trombone literally means “big trumpet.” But it’s nothing like the trumpet. The trombone carrries a mystique and, for whatever reasons, great improvisers are harder to find. But no worries, we’ve found a bunch. And the range of their original music may surprise you.

First up is Reut Regev. A native of Israel, this composer, band leader and educator has been part of the New York music scene for over 20 years. She plays jazz, blues, klezmer, Latin and free improvisation. She has supported many notable musicians, but we’re focusing on her duo, Two Much. Her musical partner is her husband Igal Foni, who is a terrific drummer. Their 2021 album is called Never Enough, released on Relative Pitch Records, a really cool label out of New York. Meet Reut.

Next, we move north to Boston, to hear the music of Jeb Bishop. He’s a North Carolina native, multi-instrumentalist and skilled improviser with vast credits. He’s toured a lot in North America and Europe. Jeb has a range of recordings, but we focus on one in particular. It’s called Concert for Hannes, and it has a moving story behind it. “Hannes” is trombonist Johannes Bauer. Along with two other German trombonists – Matthias Müller and Matthias Muche – Jeb and Hannes planned to play as a quartet in 2017. However, Hannes’ health was failing and he could not participate. The others played as a trio, as it turned out, on the day Hannes passed away. This album is their poignant tribute.

Hopping over the Atlantic, we explore another side of Matthias Müller, a prolific composer and improvisor in his own right. Based in Berlin, he is, among many other things, part of a trio called Cranes, which includes Eve Risser on piano and Christian Marien on drums. We play excerpts from their beautiful album called Formation – Deviation, also on Relative Pitch.

Last stop is back in the USA—Philadelphia to be exact—where we meet Dan Blacksberg. He is a performer, composer and educator who is best known for klezmer, but he’s crossed genres from free jazz to experimental music to heavt metal (a label a trombonist can wear more literally than any guitar thrasher ever has). We hear sounds from Dan’s dizzying diversity of interests.

Links to these artists and a list of tracks excerpted in the episode follow.

Reut Regev (website):

All excerpts from the album Never Enough by Two Much (with Igal Foni).

1. “Temperamental Flow”

2. “Echoes of Infinity”

3. “The Beauty of Sadness”

Jeb Bishop (website) with Matthias Müller and Matthias Muche:

Excerpts from the album Konzert fur Hannes.

4. “1”

5. “2”

Cranes (featuring Matthias Müller- website)

Excerpt from the album Formation - Deviation by Cranes.

6. “The Inevitability of Truth and Mistake”

Dan Blacksberg (website):

7. D.B. Trio, “Blind Tracery” from Perilous Architecture

8. Superlith II, “Multi-cultural Space Lasers Kill Only Nazis”

9. “What Is Our Nature” from the Stay In Shape anthology

Reut Regev (from Never Enough):

10. “Gone Without the Wind”

11. “Animate It”

Big thanks to the featured artists and Kevin Reilly of Relative Pitch Records!