44 | AUGUST 5 • 2021

A

lthough reunions are generally
geared toward looking back
and catching up, that hasn’t
been so for the Lunar Octet, a Latin jazz
group formed in 1983 by students at the
University of Michigan.
A performance reunion of the octet,
after some 12 years of changing mem-
berships and almost 20 years of being
disbanded, is moving the group forward
with a recording now receiving interna-
tional acclaim as it is played on many
radio stations.
Convergence, holding 14 tracks of
original Lunar Octet compositions, was
released by Summit Records in May. It is
topping the jazz charts and drawing per-
formance invitations from venues across
three continents.
To celebrate their accelerating success,

members are returning to Ann Arbor for
a performance of the tracks and perhaps
numbers written since. They will appear
Wednesday evening, Aug. 11, at the Blue
Llama Jazz Club.
Aron Kaufman, a composer-percus-
sionist in the original group and still liv-
ing in Ann Arbor, composed five of the
numbers with each one having a story
behind it as does the title of the album.
Kaufman’s commitment to the Lunar
Octet style continues as he teaches Jewish
studies at Hillel Day School and Adat
Shalom Synagogue, both in Farmington
Hills, and performs with other groups.
“Jon Krosnick, our drummer who lives
in California, got people motivated to
perform again,” Kaufman said. “We did
a show and were encouraged to record
the numbers. We came up with the title
Convergence because of the way we had
to coordinate rehearsals of the mostly
instrumental tracks. It involved trav-
el from both the Eastern and Western
United States so everyone could converge
in Ann Arbor.
“Convergence is also a convergence of
musical styles that bring together a jazz
matrix with world flavors from the con-
tinent of Africa as well as countries that
include Cuba and Brazil. There are sound
variations that you wouldn’t normally
find on one recording as we highlight our

individual musical expressions that have
many world influences.”

CONGA CREATIVITY
The members’ original musical intent
was captured in the group’s first name,
Lunar Glee Club, which was to suggest
singing through instruments, not vocal-
izing. In that vein, the first song on the
album, “Norm’s Nambo,” was written by
Kaufman with a mambo beat in tribute
to a former mentor.
“When I first began playing conga
drums, I studied with Norm Shobey,”
Kaufman explained. “He had performed
on Broadway and played briefly with the
5th Dimension music group. Norm was
an incredibly creative conga player who
would take different rhythms and com-
bine them creatively. That inspired me to
think about music creatively.”
Another number by Kaufman is “Heart
of Congatar,” based on a pattern he
played using four conga drums. After a
fellow musician commented that the four
drums in combination sounded like a
tune, Kaufman realized that composing
was something that could be done using
congas instead of the usual piano or gui-
tar. The title is a wordplay that associates
the conga and guitar.
Other Kaufman songs on the record-
ing, sometimes explained in live per-

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details
The Lunar Octet will appear start-
ing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug.
11, at the Blue Llama Jazz Club,
314 S. Main, Ann Arbor. Three
45-minute sets. $10. (734) 372-
3200. bluellamaclub.com.

Decades-old Ann Arbor jazz band
reunites to fi
nd fame and success.

Decades-old Ann Arbor jazz band
Top of the Charts!

Members of the Lunar
Octet about to appear in
Ann Arbor are (from left)
Paul VornHagen (tenor
saxophone, flute, alto clari-
net), Keaton Royer (piano),
Brandon Cooper (trumpet,
flugelhorn), Sam Clark
(guitar), Steve Hiltner (alto
saxophone, clarinet), Jeff
Dalton (acoustic and elec-
tric basses), Jon Krosnick
(drums) and Aron Kaufman
(congas, percussions).

CHUCK ANDERSEN

Aron Kaufman
on the congas