Pianist Rick Roe, a favorite of Ann Arbor jazz fans, plays with his trio Friday night at Kerrytown Concert House. The ensemble also includes Robert Hurst on bass, and a drummer to be announced.
The show marks the release of the new CD “Swing Theory.”
Roe, who cites the great Thelonius Monk as one of his primary inspirations, was twice a semifinalist in the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He has ties to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University music departments.
Hurst, an Associate Professor of Music at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, Department of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation, has played in the bands of Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Chris Botti and Diana Krall.
Roe was in his teens when he first dug Monk’s music.
“It was total acupuncture,” Roe told Lansing’s City Pulse a few years back. “I felt it all up in my back and all around my body. He played certain things and I went, ‘Ow, it’s so damn good! You just cracked my back!’”
Rick Roe performs at Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Admission is $25-$5. Details at www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com or 734-769-2999.