April 25 • 2019 47
jn

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Israeli drummer/
composer brings Nonet, 
vocalist to Bell’
s. 

S

ome minor household discord 
was brought into harmony with 
a song received humorously — 
as intended — by cabaret audiences 
watching the Dan Pugach Nonet, a 
nine-piece jazz band with vocalist.
The song, “Our Blues,” was written 
with melody by Pugach, a drummer 
and composer from Israel, and lyrics 
by his wife, Nicole Zuraitis, a singer 
and lyricist raised in Connecticut. 
It will be performed 
when they entertain 
Sunday evening, May 12, 
at Cliff Bell’
s in Detroit.
“‘
Our Blues’
 is kind 
of a silly story,” Zuraitis 
says. “Dan and I had 
gotten into a little bit 
of a couple’
s tiff that 
morning, and I said, ‘
I’
ll 
write you a blues song!’
 
The punch line is ‘
you’
re 
much more clever when 
you shut your mouth.’
 “We find cou-
ples really relate to that song when we 
perform it live.”
The pair, working together for nine 
years, have been married for two 
years and live in Brooklyn. 
“The band plays mostly original 
arrangements of pop, folk and jazz 
tunes as well as original composi-
tions aimed at jazz,” says Pugach, 36, 
who occasionally duets with pianist 
Mendy Hershkowitz to present pro-
grams of Jewish music. 
“We’
ve all been working together 
for a long time, and we bring in dif-
ferent styles you usually don’
t find 
in jazz. For Dolly Parton’
s ‘
Jolene,’
 
for example, which is not at all jazz, 
we make it jazz and won a Grammy 
nomination for best arrangement.”
Selections from the Nonet record-

ing “Plus One” are planned for the 
Detroit appearance. The “plus one” 
represents Zuraitis, who had been 
preparing for an opera career before 
being smitten by jazz. 
“I grew up in the small city of 
Ra’
anana and wanted a drum set,” 
Pugach says. “I didn’
t want to take les-
sons and be professional, but my dad 
pushed me to take lessons.”
He then went to the Rimon School 
of Jazz and Contemporary 
Music. He also played as 
a drummer for the Israeli 
Air Force Band. A scholar-
ship to Berklee College of 
Music in Boston prompted 
his move here in 2006. 
After Berklee, he earned 
a master’
s degree in jazz 
performance at City College 
of New York, where he got 
into basic arranging and 
composing.
“I didn’
t study composing with the 
idea of getting into it professionally, but 
I found in 2010 I had become attracted 
to big bands and larger sounds and 
started experimenting with all that,
” 
he says, adding he would bring a nine-
piece band into their tiny apartment 
to try out compositions and arrange-
ments.
“If I have a clear idea of what I want 
to write, I go to the drums. In my 
head, I sing along and then go to the 
computer and type it into notation 
software. If I don’
t know what I want, I 
sit at the piano and play chords until I 
hear something I like.
”
Away from music, Pugach confess-
es an obsession with espresso coffee 
— an obsession that has turned his 
apartment into a hang out, he says 
happily. ■

music

details
The Dan Pugach 
Nonet will perform at 
7 p.m. Sunday, May 
12, at Cliff Bell’
s, 
2030 Park Ave., 
Detroit. $10. 
(313) 961-2543. 
cliffbells.com.

Jazz 
On Tap

Thank 
you 
for 
your 
many
 
years 
of 
patronage!
!

lellisrestaurant.com

(248) 
373-4440

885 
N 
Opdyke 
Rd, 
Auburn 
Hills, 
MI 
48326

“News 
Flash”

Lel
l
i
’
s 
- 
Formal
l
y 
of 
Detroi
t
Si
nce 
1939

Moved 
to 
Auburn 
Hi
l
l
s 
i
n 
1996

Now 
Auburn 
Hi
l
l
s 
i
s 
our 
one 
and 
onl
y 
l
ocati
on!

We 
have 
never 
been 
affil
i
ated 
wi
th 
any 
other 
establ
i
shment 
or 
l
ocati
ons 
even 
i
f 
i
t 
contai
ned 
the 
“Lel
l
i
“ 
Name.