IN THIS ISSUE:

Fields, Houle and Roebke to Kerrytown

BY LARS BJÖRN

The collaborative trio of Scott Fields on guitar, Francois Houle on clarinet, and Jason Lee Roebke on bass visited the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor on August 18. They were advertised as a "composers' collective, drawing from the vocabularies of both creative jazz and contemporary classical music." This was truth in advertising.

While the trio worked well as a unit, there was no doubt that Houle was the main attraction. He is a master clarinetist with a beautiful tone and a sense for melody. Houle reminds me of Michael Moore, a frequent player in the "Jazz At The Edge" series, who combines exquisite classical technique and avant garde sensibilities. Roebke's bass playing was thoughtful throughout the night.

The Concert House was an ideal location for the soft-spoken experimentalism of this trio. They can also be heard on their first CD Hornet's Collage on the Nuscope label later this fall.