Life Unity Music Amplified

Infobox musical artist
Name = LUMA: Life. Unity.Music. Amplified


Img_capt = Band shot taken by Max Lauter, 2006.
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Long Island, New York
Genre = Funk Jazz Tribal Swing Hip hop
Years_active = Summer 2003 - Present
Label = None
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.lumamusic.com/ www.lumamusic.com] [http://www.myspace.com/lumamusic LUMA's Myspace]
Current_members = Daniel Lauter Jeff Marshall Claes Brondal

LUMA, Life. Unity.Music. Amplified, is a jazz trio from Long Island, New York. The band consists of Daniel Lauter on Soprano, Alto, and Tenor saxophone, Jeff Marshall on fretless electric bass and sampler, and drummer/percussionist Claes Brondal. In addition to their core trio, the band often includes a fourth member, usually a keyboardist or guitarist. LUMA's New York City debut was at The Blue Note, Saturday June 2nd, 2007. [ [http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=5022 Blue Note performance schedule] ]

History

Formed in the summer of 2003 in New York, USA.

Band Members

Dan Lauter

Dan has performed on Saxophone and world instruments for the past 25 years with professional credits including world music recordings with Anna Halprin, Gabrielle Roth, Steven Halpern, and the late Nigerian drummer Suru Ekeh, in addition to his own CD releases that have received international airplay. He studied performance at Purchase Conservatory majoring in Clarinet with Charles Russo, NY City Opera and David Weber, NYC Ballet. At San Francisco State University he studied at the Center for Experimental and Interdisciplinary Arts and continued his pursuits on Sax fronting bands that performed at the Filmore, Wolfgangs, Kabuki Theater, I Beam, Keystone, Berkeley Square; he originated Tribal Swing sound at SF nightclubs. Dan draws his influences from Wayne Shorter, 20’s Sydney Bechet, World and European flavor Jazz. He brings his unique style as a melody writer and improviser to this new musical sound. He holds a Masters in Educational Technology and has worked at The Ross School, as Music Director for Morriss Center Schools and currently is the Media & Technology Specialist for the United Nations International School in NYC. He recently founded the EastEnd ‘all star’ Youth Jazz Ensemble, and co-founded LUMA.

Claes Brondal

Born in Denmark in the mid 1970’s, and has played drums for over 20 years. He studied with drumming greats such as Ed Thigpen and (currently) Dom Famularo. Claes is versatile in many styles of music - especially funk, jazz second line and world music. He has played with many groups over the years ranging from rock and jazz to Turkish and Latin. Claes has professional credits that include recording sessions with musicians such as James Genus and Randy Brecker. His latest CD is with his quartet LUMA. He has worked with the Ross School Jazz Ensemble with Hal McKusick, and as a mentor for the East End ‘all star’ Youth Jazz Ensemble. Claes joined LUMA in 2005.

Jeffrey Scott Marshall

An Eastern Long Island bassist, percussionist and songwriter has been influenced by 70’s funk, acid jazz, and beat/sample based turntableist music. A co-founder of LUMA in the Summer of 2003, he has played with several Long Island bands including work with Erin Doherty, Trina Michne, Jessie Haynes, Cowgirl Extasy, Marianne Leone, and the Nancy Atlas Project.

tarbucks/Hear Music Recognition

This competition began in 2006, when any employee of Starbucks could submit their own, or their band's original music for review by Hear Music [ [http://www.hearmusic.com/#OFF_THE_CLOCK HearMusic] ] . Claes Brondal (drummer) is an Assistant Manager at Bridgehampton, New York, Starbucks entered LUMA's album. From over 800 submissions, LUMA's jazz single 'Ever So Slow' was selected as one of 15 finalists to be included on the CD "Off The Clock", selling in over 6500 Starbucks across the United States and Canada. This CD sold over 28,000 units and charted 190th place on the Billboard Music Charts for Various Artists [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=292&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Billboard+Comprehensive+Albums&ci=3083367&cdi=9232973&cid=04%2F21%2F2007 Billboard.com page for Off The Clock] ] . Though the band did not win the secondary competition from the compilation CD, which was comprised of fans voting on the Hear Music website for their favorite track, the band gathered a large amount of attention, and played several shows in New York City supporting the CD including Starbucks Astor Place. Their single was further selected by Starbucks to be the music for their summer 2007 national ad campaign, appearing on XM Satellite broadcast and 21 radio regions nationally.

Recording

The band recorded their first album, "Life. Unity. Music. Amplified", in 2005. It was received well, with strong reviews stating the band as a "concoction of world rhythms, catchy sax-based melodies, and a liberal dash of funk", with "a strong debut effort." [ [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=24451 AllAboutJazz.com Review] ] They announced plans to record another album either this summer or winter of 2007.

Performances

*July 28th, 2007: Central Park Summerstage, NYC
*July 21st, 2007, The James Beard Chef's & Champagne at Wolfer Estates, Southampton, NY
*June 2nd, 2007: The Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
*April 13th, 2007: Starbucks Astor Place, NYC
*July 21st, 2006: The James Beard Chef's & Champagne at Wolfer Estates, Southampton, NY
*November 14th, 2005: Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY

Discography

Links

*LUMA's official website: [http://www.lumamusic.com LumaMusic.com]
*LUMA's review on AllAboutJazz.com: [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=24451 Elliott Simon's Review on All About Jazz]
*LUMA on HearMusic.com: [http://www.hearmusic.com/#OFF_THE_CLOCK Hear Music]
*LUMA on MySpace: [http://www.myspace.com/lumamusic Myspace.com/LumaMusic]

References