On Wednesday night, Nutt Auditorium hosted a free faculty recital featuring the Half-Assembled Trio, which includes University of Mississippi Professor of Music Adam Estes on baritone saxophone, Oakland University Associate Professor Jeff Heisler on soprano saxophone and Oakland University Professor I-Chen Yeh on piano.
The performance was a part of the UM Saxophone Chamber Music Extravaganza, an annual two-day event. The event began with a workshop, followed by the trio’s recital.
“It was just another opportunity to play with really good friends,” Heisler said. “There’s nothing better than chamber music with friends.”
The theme of the night was transcription, or the process of adapting music originally written for one instrument to another. For instance, a piece might be written for the violin but played on a saxophone attempting to emulate those sounds.
“You’re playing the same notes, but it’s a different sound,” Heisler said.
In order, the group performed “Piano Trio No. 3: ‘Ecstatic Samba’” by Kevin Day, “Lecolion Loops” by Daniel Bernard Roumain, “Mask” by Kevin Poelking, “Full Circle at 50” by Jake Heggie and “Danzon” by Paquito D’Rivera.
Though the trio enjoyed performing every piece, Heisler believes that “Lecolian Loops” was a challenging favorite.
“I think we spent the most time with the … Lecolion Loops piece,” Heisler said. “I just find that hypnotic to play, and it’s just a beautiful piece of music.”
Estes hopes that the trio’s performance showed the versatility and ability that three saxophonists can bring to the stage.
“I hope (the students) understand repertoire identity, because that was a familiar theme of the night,” Estes said. “I hope they can understand what a saxophone trio is capable of through this music.”
Heisler expanded on this philosophy and how he finds the saxophone to be both hypnotic and malleable.
“The saxophone to me is like a chameleon,” Heisler said. “It can do all types of styles and genres of music. As you heard in our concert, there’s a wide array of music and sounds that the saxophone is capable of doing.”
In 2025, Estes, Heisler and Yeh recorded an album set to release this spring through AMP Recordings. The group has been touring nationally since 2023.
“This group is an offshoot of another, Assembly (Required) Saxophone Quartet,” Heisler said. “About five or six years ago we decided to explore this medium as well. My wife is Professor Yeh, a pianist, and with Dr. Estes we play trio music, two saxophones and a piano. There’s a huge repertoire for string, and we thought we could transcribe them for saxophone.”
All three musicians have a love not just for their respective instruments but how they can combine and complement each other after decades of perfecting solo sounds.
“In college, I fell in love with practicing the saxophone and learning how to perform as a soloist as a chamber musician, like tonight,” Estes said. “That led me to where I am today.”
