Kalia Vandever, born in 1995, moved from Los Angeles to New York in 2013 to study trombone at the renowned Juilliard School. After earning her Bachelor of Music in 2017, she quickly made a name for herself in New York’s jazz and improv scene as a trombonist who combines lyrical expression with an expressive approach on her instrument. She has performed with musicians of her generation as well as with some of jazz’s greats—such as Joel Ross, Fabian Almazan, and Maria Grand, or Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis. Her debut album “In Bloom” was released in 2019, and in 2023 she presented her solo album “We Fell in Turn.” It is particularly through her unaccompanied solo concerts that Vandever illustrates her aesthetic and technical approach. In doing so, she follows her own melodic line, taking the time to develop the lyrical qualities of the trombone, and experiments with a style that highlights the eloquence of her phrasing. Using a looper and sampler, she further broadens the trombone’s sonic spectrum into a multi-layered amalgam.
