Ryan Keberle was destined from birth to play music.
His dad is the renowned music teacher and trumpet player Dan Keberle, a professor at Whitworth University in Spokane.
It was at Whitworth where Hanford High's band director, Kevin Swisher, honed his trumpet expertise.
"Dan held an annual guest artists concert at Whitworth every fall featuring professional players from all over the world," Swisher said.
He decided to give his Hanford music students the same experience, so he invited his college mentor, along with his son, to play with the Hanford High Jazz Band.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 in the auditorium at Hanford High. Admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets are at the high school office.
Swisher has been bringing in professional musicians to work with his students for a few years now.
"Two years ago we featured Vern Sielert from the University of Idaho and last year we featured Bruce Babad, (a Hanford grad) who plays in the Bill Holman Big Band in Los Angeles," Swisher said.
"This year I wanted to bring in someone from New York and used my contact with Dan to do it. He's played in groups led by Doc Severinsen, Billy Eckstein and Louie Bellson."
Ryan Keberle moved to New York City several years ago to pursue life as a jazz trombonist. Since then, the years have been good.
He's earned a reputation as one of the most sought after musicians around. That's because he's proficient in so many music styles like jazz, avant-garde, Latin, classical and rock. He's performed with the Saturday Night Live band, most recently in October when Will Ferrell returned to the show for a guest appearance.
Keberle's been a top 10 finalist for the famous Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trombone competition. He's also a regular member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra of New York City.
"I grew up surrounded by music," Keberle said in an interview via e-mail. "My mom is a piano teacher and was a music director at a church for many years. My earliest memories are of attending concerts and listening to my parents practice."
Keberle said there is a videotape floating around his parents' home of him conducting a Vivaldi composition at the age of 4 or 5. The piano and violin were the first instruments he learned to play.
"My dad started me on the trombone when I was about 10 because he needed bone players in the jazz bands he ran," Keberle said.
"Then when I was in high school I got to perform with my dad's college jazz band and the Spokane Jazz Orchestra."
In the past, the father and son haven't had a chance to jam together very often, but the past year was different.
"We jammed at my sister's wedding reception, performed together on a pops concert my dad put together featuring the New Haven Symphony, (which included his uncle on clarinet), and I was recently featured as a guest artist with the Whitworth University Jazz Band, which Dad directs, of course," Keberle said.
And now the father and son will kick off 2009 with yet another collaboration of musical talent with the Hanford High School Jazz Orchestra.
*Dori O'Neal: 582-1514; doneal@tricityherald.com