For nearly 40 years I've been musical director for the group persistently known as the Lunar Octet, playing original jazz latin, with gigs this year in Michigan, California, and England.
The Blue Llama, a gorgeous art deco jazz club on Main Street in Ann Arbor, has been a recurrent venue, including a gig earlier this month, but April 6 and 7 we'll be performing at the Dirty Dog in Detroit. There's a trip or two this summer to California, and September 23 we'll be headlining at the Scarborough Jazz Festival in England.
To my right on the bandstand are the prolific performers Paul Vornhagen on various reeds and Brandon Cooper on trumpet and flugelhorn.
Sam Clark and Jeff Dalton are the string section behind me. Jeff has been shifting to a seaside existence in the Florida Keys, where he's become increasingly busy performing with bands while working remotely on internet security.
And to my left are Aron Kaufman and Jon Krosnick on drums. Aron is teacher of kids by day and master of congas by night, bringing his playful spirit and soulfulness to both endeavors. Jon has multiple careers--a professor of political psychology at Stanford while performing intensely with his trio, the Charged Particles, all the while booking and promoting the Lunar Octet.
Not quite sure how they pull it all off, day after day, but we're fortunate to find time to periodically gather for performances and even a few rehearsals to learn new material. This month we played to a packed room, including many who looked to be students at the University of Michigan taking advantage of a thriving downtown.
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