**1/2 BRIDGES

(Interworld Music)

Bridges are a clarinet-led trio of acoustic musicians with a subtle synthesis of new-age and Middle Eastern styles. Clarinettist Amy Platt has a vibrato-less tone that is compellingly eerie. Fretless bassist Jorge Alfano and percussionist Randy Crafton provide atmospheric settings within which Platt makes finely honed melodic statements. The best tune out of the 11 on Bridges is a mesmerizing cover of John Coltrane's "Naima," with all its jazz content drained away, which leaves a modal theme more Beirut than bop. Original tunes by the trio can drift in the worst unfocused manner of Ralph Towner and Oregon. But this group's bridge building between styles is to be commended.

-- Norman Weinstein