Anyone who saw Francie Zucco at the whatzup Best of 2000 Readers Poll show February 15 at Columbia Street West will remember her backup musicians. The FreeTime Trio was comprised of Snider High School students: Andrew Kratzat, Dave Holloway and Ben Sloan.

The FreeTime Trio has their first full-length CD, All The Things You Are, which gives listeners a chance to enjoy the subtle musicianship of these older-than-their-years performers. Don’t take our word for it. The trio was selected as a winner in DownBeat Magazine’s annual Student Music Awards Competition. They were one of four groups from around the United States and Canada to win in the Best Jazz Instrumentalist Group category. A brief article is scheduled to appear in the June issue of the magazine.

The selections on which the judges based their choice were taken from All The Things You Are, which consists of 14 tracks (vocals provided on two by North Side High School graduate Allison Demaree). Impressively, there are four original compositions among them, which can be downloaded and heard for free from the group’s website at www.mp3.com (under search, type in FreeTime Trio). That’s just a temporary solution. Go and buy the CD, which is available at local record stores. It’s not a novelty; it’s genuinely good jazz, with shadings of sound and emotion that make it a worthy addition to any collection.

FreeTime is Kratzat on bass, Holloway on piano/keyboards and Sloan on drums. Fort Wayne teachers Dave Streeter on saxophone and Jerry Farrington on guitar join them. Demaree, by the way, has a rich, smooth voice, and all the makings of a superb singer. FreeTime performs regularly, including at the Firefly Cafe and The Anchor Room Bookstore. Buy the CD, and then go see them. You won’t regret either.