Ellen Rowe's trio plays at Kerrytown Concert House on Sunday.

The latest and — at least for now — the last installment in a monthly series exploring different aspects of the jazz trio will be held Sunday afternoon, Dec. 19 at Kerrytown Concert House. The event, a mix of music and education, features the Ellen Rowe Trio.

This month’s program is titled “The Evolution of the Jazz Piano Trio.”

“It is a little historical in nature,” explained Ann Arbor pianist Rowe. “We wanted to go back and look at some of the earliest trios and talk about how the roles of the piano, drums and bass have evolved throughout the past 80 years.”

The instruments have a lot more freedom now to interact than they did in decades past, Rowe said.

She said the idea for the series has been percolating for a while, and gained added impetus when the Firefly jazz club closed about a year and a half ago, reducing the number of venues for jazz music.

“I have maintained for a long time that more people would enjoy jazz, and come out to hear it, and purchase CDs, if they knew more about it,” Rowe said.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t like jazz, and then I ask them what it is they don’t like about it or what they know about it, and generally it’s very little. My goal with the series was to do something where we could go and play the music and explain it and talk about it — hopefully explain why we were having so much fun and give the audience some insights into what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and see if that will help their enjoyment."

Rowe will be joined on stage by local jazz musicians Paul Keller (bass) and Pete Siers (drums). Drummer Sean Dobbins has also been a part of the series but will not be on the Sunday bill.

Rowe, who is also a composer and recording artist, is associate professor and chair of the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan. Bassist Keller has led the 15-piece Paul Keller Orchestra since 1989 and also plays in the Keller/Kocher Quartet and The Paul Keller Ensemble. Drummer Siers can be heard performing in groups throughout the region, including the Latin group Los Gatos and his own trio and quartet.

“I wanted to pick people to play with who I had a musical relationship with and that I knew were charismatic and had an interest in talking about the music and explaining it,” said Rowe.

The series is part concert and part class, she said.

The first concert, held earlier this fall, explained the role of the trio, how a trio’s members interact and the different styles of music a trio plays. The second was devoted to improvisation and the third was about music arrangements.

Not that Sunday’s show will be all talk and no music. The program — which will focus on the music of Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett — is about one-third talk to two-thirds tunes.

“There will be demonstrations of what we’re talking about while we’re talking,” Rowe said. “Then we will play a complete version of something and then another complete version of something.”

Keller, Siers and Dobbins are well known to concertgoers from their involvement not only with a variety of ensembles but from their work as educators.

“Paul is one of the most outgoing and charismatic players that I know,” said Rowe. “His knowledge of the history of jazz is voluminous, as is Pete and Sean’s. I know I can leave the aspects of bass and drums for them to talk about, they are very personable and I think the best thing about all three of those guys is they are so able to communicate their enthusiasm for the music as well as talk about it very intelligently.”

Kerrytown Concert House is ideal for such a program, Rowe added.

“What I’ve been really happy about is that I’ve told people to feel free to stick up their hands and ask questions, and a lot of people have been doing that. I know if we were in a huge hall, that wouldn’t happen.”

One last thing: If you missed the earlier concerts of “All About the Trio” and think they sound like something you’d like to catch, Rowe plans on resuming the series in March or April, and maybe even include a refresher on the fall sessions.

“It will continue in the spring. We just don’t have dates set yet,” she promised.

Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com.