The Musicians
Steve Hiltner, saxophone
Paul Vornhagen, saxophone
Brandon Cooper trumpet
Sam Clark, guitar
Keaton Royer, piano
Jeff Dalton, acoustic and electric bass
Jon Krosnick, drums
Aron Kaufman, congas and percussion
Olman Piedra, timbales and percussion
Steve Hiltner
Steve Hiltner
During his high school and college years in Ann Arbor, Steve Hiltner began playing jazz. His interest in music actually germinated when he grew up in Wisconsin, where his mother and older sister played piano at home. “I’m the only one in my family who didn’t take piano lessons, but now I’m the only one who plays,” he says. “But we always had music around the house. My father really loved opera. He couldn’t carry a tune — he was tone-deaf when he tried to sing — but he was just enthralled by the opera.”
The family was also very interested in folk music. When Hiltner was in fifth grade, he began playing clarinet in the student ensemble. By the time he was a senior in high school in Ann Arbor, he took up tenor sax. Hiltner also had been turned on to jazz by his older brother. “He had given me a Modern Jazz Quartet album and also had turned me on to Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme.’”
Steve became interested in improvisation and its potential for more personal expression at an early age. In order to better understand and emulate the jazz solos he loved, he studied music theory via textbooks, stubborn and eventually fruitful attempts to play piano, and the analysis of jazz standards. He gained further training through advanced coursework at the University of Michigan School of Music, including courses in 18th Century counterpoint, instrumentation and orchestration, and creative composition -- the latter taught by Pulitzer Prize winner Leslie Bassett. He also studied classical piano with Michele Cooker, a noted accompanist, and jazz piano and saxophone with multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker of Toledo, Ohio.
While some musicians credit their teachers with sparking a lifetime interest in music, Hiltner’s band teacher, unfortunately, had the opposite effect. “There was sort of a harsh ethic among band directors then,” says Hiltner. “They thought they had to really drive kids strongly and say certain things, kind of cutting remarks. So when I graduated from high school I didn’t want to read any more music. I just wanted to play.”
He taught himself jazz via clarinet and tenor, just figuring out how to get from one chord and note to another. “It was really like an outpouring of the heart. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just trying to play what I was hearing.”
Among Mr. Hiltner's influences and inspirations are jazz melodists such as Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, and Sonny Rollins, the piano works of Chopin, Brahms, and Bach, orchestral works by Holtz, Ravel, and Stravinski, the huge repertoire of jazz standards, and the varied musical sensibilities of his fellow performers in his performing ensembles.
Steve began composing after many years of jazz performance in order to capture special, felicitous moments in the musical stream of his thoughts on stage and in the practice room. Since that time, his compositions and arrangements have found their way into the repertoires of the Lunar Octet, big bands such as the Bird of Paradise Orchestra, and a harp-flute duo of Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians.
Hiltner did gigs in Ann Arbor for most of the two decades after graduating from college. After a stint in North Carolina, Hiltner moved to Princeton, where he began composing again and created Sustainable Jazz (www.sustainablejazz.com). The trio, composed of Hiltner, pianist Phil Orr initially and later Ron Connor, and bassist Jerry D’Anna, has been working steadily since.
The family was also very interested in folk music. When Hiltner was in fifth grade, he began playing clarinet in the student ensemble. By the time he was a senior in high school in Ann Arbor, he took up tenor sax. Hiltner also had been turned on to jazz by his older brother. “He had given me a Modern Jazz Quartet album and also had turned me on to Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme.’”
Steve became interested in improvisation and its potential for more personal expression at an early age. In order to better understand and emulate the jazz solos he loved, he studied music theory via textbooks, stubborn and eventually fruitful attempts to play piano, and the analysis of jazz standards. He gained further training through advanced coursework at the University of Michigan School of Music, including courses in 18th Century counterpoint, instrumentation and orchestration, and creative composition -- the latter taught by Pulitzer Prize winner Leslie Bassett. He also studied classical piano with Michele Cooker, a noted accompanist, and jazz piano and saxophone with multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker of Toledo, Ohio.
While some musicians credit their teachers with sparking a lifetime interest in music, Hiltner’s band teacher, unfortunately, had the opposite effect. “There was sort of a harsh ethic among band directors then,” says Hiltner. “They thought they had to really drive kids strongly and say certain things, kind of cutting remarks. So when I graduated from high school I didn’t want to read any more music. I just wanted to play.”
He taught himself jazz via clarinet and tenor, just figuring out how to get from one chord and note to another. “It was really like an outpouring of the heart. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just trying to play what I was hearing.”
Among Mr. Hiltner's influences and inspirations are jazz melodists such as Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, and Sonny Rollins, the piano works of Chopin, Brahms, and Bach, orchestral works by Holtz, Ravel, and Stravinski, the huge repertoire of jazz standards, and the varied musical sensibilities of his fellow performers in his performing ensembles.
Steve began composing after many years of jazz performance in order to capture special, felicitous moments in the musical stream of his thoughts on stage and in the practice room. Since that time, his compositions and arrangements have found their way into the repertoires of the Lunar Octet, big bands such as the Bird of Paradise Orchestra, and a harp-flute duo of Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians.
Hiltner did gigs in Ann Arbor for most of the two decades after graduating from college. After a stint in North Carolina, Hiltner moved to Princeton, where he began composing again and created Sustainable Jazz (www.sustainablejazz.com). The trio, composed of Hiltner, pianist Phil Orr initially and later Ron Connor, and bassist Jerry D’Anna, has been working steadily since.
Paul Vornhagen
Paul Vornhagen
Winner of Six Detroit Music Awards, sax/flutist/vocalist Paul began playing the flute at the age of 22 in Ann Arbor Michigan. Self-taught for the first 5 years of his study he then enrolled at City College of San Francisco for one year where he took courses in music theory, woodwinds, piano and played sax and flute in the Big Band. Returning to Michigan, Paul then played with jazz and R & B groups throughout the Detroit Metro area including the exciting ensemble, The Lunar Glee Club and Domino. He also formed his own quartet. Appearances at Jazz Festivals and nightclubs furthered his career which resulted in several Detroit Music Awards. He continues to return to San Francisco where he became a regular headliner at the famous club, Jazz at Pearls and other jazz hotspots. Since 1991 he has recorded over seven of his own jazz Cds to critical acclaim as well as forming the award winning cuban jazz band, Tumbao Bravo with conguero Alberto Nacif, that has recorded four Cds and has won three Detroit Music Awards. He also recorded three critically acclaimed new age albums in the late 1980s with guitarist Paul Sihon. All of his recordings have been featured on nationally syndicated public radio stations including the #1 Show, “Jazz After Hours.” This April 2014, Paul releases his 8th jazz recording, entitled “In Our Own Way” with pianist Gary Schunk, bassist Kurt Krahnke and drummer Randy Marsh. Paul continues to tour the Midwest and west coasts with his Trio/Quartet and Tumbao Bravo. Some of his performing credits include Detroit, Michigan, Birmingham, Lansing, River Raisin, Berkeley, CA and Ann Arbor Jazz Festivals. Also Orchestra Hall, Pine Knob, Hill Auditorium and Chicago jazz clubs. He has shared the stage with the Temptations, Four Tops, Charles Earland, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Levine, Marcus Belgrave and Abbey Lincoln. Visit the website www.paulvornhagen.com.
Brandon Cooper
Brandon Cooper
Trumpeter Brandon Cooper is a freelance musician and education in Metro Detroit. A graduate of Hastings High School, Brandon has a Bachelor’s degree in music and trumpet performance from the University of Michigan, with a concentration on music education, performance, history, and theory. He also got a Secondary Teaching Certificate from the Jazz program at Henry Ford Community College. He plays with the Paul Keller Orchestra, the Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra, The Groove Council (A Detroit Music Award Winning R&B Funk and Blues Band), Nouveaute, Generations - A Trio/Plus, the Rhythm Society Orchestra, and the Metro Detroit Jazz Orchestra.
He has performed with the Harry James Orchestra, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, as well as The Temptations and the Four Tops, The Return of the Rat Pack Show, the Bayou River Band (the House New Orleans Band of The Detroit Princess and Michigan Princess Riverboats).
His performances include the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Flint Jazz Festival, the Michigan Jazz Festival, the Detroit Festival of the Arts, the Columbus Jazz Festival, the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, the Firefly Club, the Bird of Paradise Jazz Club, Cliff Bells Jazz Club, the Dirty Dog Jazz Club, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, the Windsor Blues Festival (Canada), and the Thornapple Arts Council Jazz Festival.
He toured Spain and Switzerland in 2001 and 2003 with the Paul Keller Orchestra.
He was a brass instructor for 20 yrs. at Milford Music, Milford, MI, for 30 years at his own Private Studio in South Lyon, MI, and a Clinician/Instructor at Muir/Oak Valley Middle and Milford HS and various other schools.
He has performed with the Harry James Orchestra, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, as well as The Temptations and the Four Tops, The Return of the Rat Pack Show, the Bayou River Band (the House New Orleans Band of The Detroit Princess and Michigan Princess Riverboats).
His performances include the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Flint Jazz Festival, the Michigan Jazz Festival, the Detroit Festival of the Arts, the Columbus Jazz Festival, the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, the Firefly Club, the Bird of Paradise Jazz Club, Cliff Bells Jazz Club, the Dirty Dog Jazz Club, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, the Windsor Blues Festival (Canada), and the Thornapple Arts Council Jazz Festival.
He toured Spain and Switzerland in 2001 and 2003 with the Paul Keller Orchestra.
He was a brass instructor for 20 yrs. at Milford Music, Milford, MI, for 30 years at his own Private Studio in South Lyon, MI, and a Clinician/Instructor at Muir/Oak Valley Middle and Milford HS and various other schools.
Sam Clark
Sam Clark
Sam Clark has explored a wide range of musical idioms during his years as a performer and composer. Originally an acoustic guitarist as a youngster, his approach to the instrument was influenced by folk and country artists such as Doc Watson and David Bromberg.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Mr. Clark became enamored with jazz fusion music, especially that of Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin, and Pat Martino. He also became familiar with the compositions of Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter. His performances during this period often involved adaptations of these composers' works to the guitar, as well as interpreting jazz standards on solo acoustic and electric guitars in unconventional, rock-influenced styles. Mr. Clark also performed with a variety of blues and rock-oriented groups, writing a range of vocal compositions for these ensembles. During these years, Mr. Clark studied music theory and guitar with Junior Dixon, Cory Mullen, and Bruce Dunlap, an alumnus of composer/keyboardist Bob James.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Clark co-organized a weekly jazz jam session in Ann Arbor that became a regional institution for many years.
In this context, he was exposed to a wide range of musical approaches to jazz, and he found himself having to orchestrate the performance of each composition to fit the talents of the performers on hand. Thus, he became an expert at what might be dubbed "improvisational composition." The results of Mr. Clark's efforts at these jams were always provocative and entertaining, regularly attracting large contingents of interested players and listeners.
Since joining the Lunar Octet in 1983, Mr. Clark's composing became more formalized and structured. He wrote a number of pieces for the group, including the ambitious Quasimodal, an elaborate work including sections emphasizing bossa nova, funk, and up-tempo samba. Evident in these compositions are the influences of Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, and Pat Metheny, as well as strong blues and rock components derived from his playing and listening experiences in the 1970s. Mr. Clark's compositions were featured prominently in the Lunar Octet's performance that won them the WEMU-Depot Town Jazz Competition in 1985, and they were mainstays in the band's repertoire ever since.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Mr. Clark became enamored with jazz fusion music, especially that of Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin, and Pat Martino. He also became familiar with the compositions of Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter. His performances during this period often involved adaptations of these composers' works to the guitar, as well as interpreting jazz standards on solo acoustic and electric guitars in unconventional, rock-influenced styles. Mr. Clark also performed with a variety of blues and rock-oriented groups, writing a range of vocal compositions for these ensembles. During these years, Mr. Clark studied music theory and guitar with Junior Dixon, Cory Mullen, and Bruce Dunlap, an alumnus of composer/keyboardist Bob James.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Clark co-organized a weekly jazz jam session in Ann Arbor that became a regional institution for many years.
In this context, he was exposed to a wide range of musical approaches to jazz, and he found himself having to orchestrate the performance of each composition to fit the talents of the performers on hand. Thus, he became an expert at what might be dubbed "improvisational composition." The results of Mr. Clark's efforts at these jams were always provocative and entertaining, regularly attracting large contingents of interested players and listeners.
Since joining the Lunar Octet in 1983, Mr. Clark's composing became more formalized and structured. He wrote a number of pieces for the group, including the ambitious Quasimodal, an elaborate work including sections emphasizing bossa nova, funk, and up-tempo samba. Evident in these compositions are the influences of Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, and Pat Metheny, as well as strong blues and rock components derived from his playing and listening experiences in the 1970s. Mr. Clark's compositions were featured prominently in the Lunar Octet's performance that won them the WEMU-Depot Town Jazz Competition in 1985, and they were mainstays in the band's repertoire ever since.
Keaton Royer
Keaton Royer
Winner of the outstanding Soloist Award from Downbeat Jazz Magazine, Keaton Royer studied jazz theory and classical piano with Kurt Ellenberger in Grand Rapids, MI. From middle school through high school, he played piano in the Northview (MI) High School Jazz Ensemble. He polished his musical skills at the renowned Interlochen Arts Academy and then enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he earned at BFA in Jazz Studies, concentrating on composition and improvisation with the internationally acclaimed pianist Geri Allen. While at U. of M., Keaton performed with many jazz greats, including Lee Konitz, Robert Hurst, Curtis Fuller, Buster Williams, and Wendell Harrison. Based in Ann Arbor, he performs and records with various bands and works as a musical accompanist in the University of Michigan Department of Dance.
Jeff Dalton
Jeff Dalton
Jeff Dalton was born into the traveling musical family, “The Dalton Family Singers,” a group he describes as “the Partridge Family - Unplugged” due to their folk-music roots. By the time he was a teenager, he had performed hundreds of shows and recording multiple albums alternating between bass, banjo, and guitar while touring with the family in a big red station wagon.
After attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy for high school, where he studied classical double bass and vocal arts, he attended the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University as a double-bass major. Embarking on a career in classical music, Jeff held positions with the Madrid, Seville, and Mexico City Symphonies before re-settling in the late 1980s in Michigan to perform, conduct musicals, and record with small groups while exploring be-bop, modern jazz, and salsa.
Jeff has performed with a long-list of artists since the late 1980s including Shelia Landis, J.C Heard, and Dan David, as well as performing under Seiji Ozawa with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Glenn Bloch with the Orquesta de la Ciudad de Sevilla. He has made numerous appearances at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Arts, Beats, and Eats, as well as at popular area venues such as The Ark in Ann Arbor, Orchestra Hall, Bakers Keyboard Lounge, the Bird of Paradise, Chene Park, and more. He was the Lunar Octet’s bassist from 1991-1994 playing fretless electric bass, where he helped to contribute to the group’s high-intensity, modern jazz sound that defined them during the period.
An avid performer and recording engineer, Jeff makes music these days at Lakeside Studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio.
After attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy for high school, where he studied classical double bass and vocal arts, he attended the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University as a double-bass major. Embarking on a career in classical music, Jeff held positions with the Madrid, Seville, and Mexico City Symphonies before re-settling in the late 1980s in Michigan to perform, conduct musicals, and record with small groups while exploring be-bop, modern jazz, and salsa.
Jeff has performed with a long-list of artists since the late 1980s including Shelia Landis, J.C Heard, and Dan David, as well as performing under Seiji Ozawa with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Glenn Bloch with the Orquesta de la Ciudad de Sevilla. He has made numerous appearances at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Arts, Beats, and Eats, as well as at popular area venues such as The Ark in Ann Arbor, Orchestra Hall, Bakers Keyboard Lounge, the Bird of Paradise, Chene Park, and more. He was the Lunar Octet’s bassist from 1991-1994 playing fretless electric bass, where he helped to contribute to the group’s high-intensity, modern jazz sound that defined them during the period.
An avid performer and recording engineer, Jeff makes music these days at Lakeside Studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio.
Aron Kaufman
Aron Kaufman
Aron Kaufman first became enchanted by Latin music as a young child living in Puerto Rico. When his family later moved to New York City, he began to play his older brother's drum set to the music of the Who, Black Sabbath, and other heavy metal rock bands. Shortly thereafter, he got turned on to jazz, listening to Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was particularly inspired by the high-energy intensity, orchestral complexity, and technical prowess of the latter group.
Shortly after moving to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, Mr. Kaufman's friends tired of hearing him tap on their furniture endlessly and bought him a pair of bongos. Recognizing his natural talent at playing bongos, he applied to the University of Michigan's Department of Dance to become an accompanist for their classes. This environment ended up offering unparalleled opportunities to collaborate with and learn from area master drummers, including Fahali lbo, Modibo Keita, and Tani Tabbal. Thus, Mr. Kaufman's dominant musical sensibilities were formed, and they still persist today in his compositional works.
All of the music Mr. Kaufman played with U. of M. dancers was composed collaboratively by the musicians involved.· These compositions were then presented at University performances, as well as performances at area venues with such noted artists as Diza Sompa, an internationally-known Congalese master dancer. These experiences inspired Mr. Kaufman to listen extensively to the Latin music of Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Los Popinas, and many other such artists. Also, he began studying music composition and ear training with Jane Heirich, who inspired him to write, arrange, and perform his own works.
As his Afro-Cuban skills were developing in this context, Mr. Kaufman became involved with a series of other musical performing groups that focused on other genres of music. For example, he spent a year as the conga player with the University of Michigan Jazz Orchestra, culminating in performances at the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival and at other local venues. Mr. Kaufman also performed and recorded with the Kathy Moore-Stephanie Ozer duo (a folk-inspired vocal-and piano group), the Song Sisters and Gemini (both children's music groups), and Quick City and Pangaea (rock and pop oriented vocal groups). Thus Mr. Kaufman's repertoire of musical traditions expanded in many directions at once.
Mr. Kaufman later performed with a wide range of groups, and solo artists, including the Lunar Octet, Pete Seeger, Peter "Madcat" Ruth (an internationally recognized harmonica player, folk entertainer, and former Dave Brubeck sideman), Ted Curs on (a former Charles Mingus sideman), the jazz trumpeter and recording artist Louis Smith, Blue Note recording artist Rick Margitza, Worker's Lives-Worker's Stories (a national creative theater company) and many others. In addition to the Lunar Octet, his performing energies are currently devoted principally to working with Montage, an acoustic group of two vocalists, acoustic piano, Chapman stick, and percussion that plays original music influenced by jazz, country and western, and folk, with a new age tinge.'
Mr. Kaufman's compositions performed by most of the bands he appeared with, especially prominently by Quick City, Pangaea, Montage, and the Lunar Octet. His works have included sambas, jump rock tunes, pop vocals, avant-garde structured pieces featuring dissonant, almost atonal improvisations by multiple players simultaneously, Brazilian love songs, humorous spoofs, and polyrhythmic percussion scores simulating factory sounds and other such aural phenomena of the contemporary world.
Aron's more recent work as a composer was influenced by the modal approach of jazz artists such as John Coltrane and Miles Davis, as well as the Latin swing of Chick Corea. He typically approaches composition by establishing a strong rhythmic foundation, and then juxtaposing it first against evocative melodic lines, and later against rich harmonic structures. The brooding and intense character of his pieces reflects Mr. Kaufman's diverse cultural experiences as a native New Yorker and while in Puerto Rico.
Aron is now a nationally honored educator, multi-percussionist, and composer. He studied Afro-Cuban drumming with Norman Shobey, Adam Rudolph, Pepe Espinosa and Chembo Corniel, frame drumming with Layne Redmond and Glen Velez and traps with Sean Dobbins. He has performed with folk legend Pete Seeger, trumpet icons Louis Smith and Ted Curson, saxophonist Rick Margitza, Detroit jazz luminaries Eddie Russ and Larry Nozero, pianist Craig Taborn, electric harpist Deborah Henson-Conant, harmonica virtuoso Madcat Ruth, and Lebanese Oudist Karim Abdul Bader. Mr. Kaufman has performed with numerous ensembles, including the rock band Quick City, the fusion group Pangaea, folk-pop quintet Montage, the Lunar Glee Club and the Lunar Octet.
Mr. Kaufman leads multi-cultural workshops incorporating music and movement for infants – five-year-old children as one of the presenters of the Dancing Babies program through the Ann Arbor Public Library. He has a wealth of experience in conducting hands on drumming workshops for both children and adults in schools, area libraries and summer camps. Aron currently performs with the children’s folk duo Gemini and leads his own band, the Special K trio.
Mr. Kaufman's tunes Subway Tension, Norm's Nambo, and Theme for the Guardian Angels were received enthusiastically at venues throughout Southeastern Michigan including the Montreux-Detroit and Flint Jazz Festivals. Subway Tension received radio airplay on WDET, WEMU-Ypsilanti, MI and WCBN-Ann Arbor, MI and was featured on "Good Afternoon Detroit"-Channel 2 T.V. His composition Heart of Congatar was selected by WGVU as part of a compilation of Michigan Jazz artists on the CD The Best of WGVU Jazz night. Mr. Kaufman was invited to contribute to the soundtrack of the feature film, The Pin, which was released nationally and received critical acclaim in the New York Times. He performed an instrumental version of the nigun (sacred melody) he recorded for the movie soundtrack live at the Michigan Theatre with his Special K Trio.
Shortly after moving to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, Mr. Kaufman's friends tired of hearing him tap on their furniture endlessly and bought him a pair of bongos. Recognizing his natural talent at playing bongos, he applied to the University of Michigan's Department of Dance to become an accompanist for their classes. This environment ended up offering unparalleled opportunities to collaborate with and learn from area master drummers, including Fahali lbo, Modibo Keita, and Tani Tabbal. Thus, Mr. Kaufman's dominant musical sensibilities were formed, and they still persist today in his compositional works.
All of the music Mr. Kaufman played with U. of M. dancers was composed collaboratively by the musicians involved.· These compositions were then presented at University performances, as well as performances at area venues with such noted artists as Diza Sompa, an internationally-known Congalese master dancer. These experiences inspired Mr. Kaufman to listen extensively to the Latin music of Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Los Popinas, and many other such artists. Also, he began studying music composition and ear training with Jane Heirich, who inspired him to write, arrange, and perform his own works.
As his Afro-Cuban skills were developing in this context, Mr. Kaufman became involved with a series of other musical performing groups that focused on other genres of music. For example, he spent a year as the conga player with the University of Michigan Jazz Orchestra, culminating in performances at the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival and at other local venues. Mr. Kaufman also performed and recorded with the Kathy Moore-Stephanie Ozer duo (a folk-inspired vocal-and piano group), the Song Sisters and Gemini (both children's music groups), and Quick City and Pangaea (rock and pop oriented vocal groups). Thus Mr. Kaufman's repertoire of musical traditions expanded in many directions at once.
Mr. Kaufman later performed with a wide range of groups, and solo artists, including the Lunar Octet, Pete Seeger, Peter "Madcat" Ruth (an internationally recognized harmonica player, folk entertainer, and former Dave Brubeck sideman), Ted Curs on (a former Charles Mingus sideman), the jazz trumpeter and recording artist Louis Smith, Blue Note recording artist Rick Margitza, Worker's Lives-Worker's Stories (a national creative theater company) and many others. In addition to the Lunar Octet, his performing energies are currently devoted principally to working with Montage, an acoustic group of two vocalists, acoustic piano, Chapman stick, and percussion that plays original music influenced by jazz, country and western, and folk, with a new age tinge.'
Mr. Kaufman's compositions performed by most of the bands he appeared with, especially prominently by Quick City, Pangaea, Montage, and the Lunar Octet. His works have included sambas, jump rock tunes, pop vocals, avant-garde structured pieces featuring dissonant, almost atonal improvisations by multiple players simultaneously, Brazilian love songs, humorous spoofs, and polyrhythmic percussion scores simulating factory sounds and other such aural phenomena of the contemporary world.
Aron's more recent work as a composer was influenced by the modal approach of jazz artists such as John Coltrane and Miles Davis, as well as the Latin swing of Chick Corea. He typically approaches composition by establishing a strong rhythmic foundation, and then juxtaposing it first against evocative melodic lines, and later against rich harmonic structures. The brooding and intense character of his pieces reflects Mr. Kaufman's diverse cultural experiences as a native New Yorker and while in Puerto Rico.
Aron is now a nationally honored educator, multi-percussionist, and composer. He studied Afro-Cuban drumming with Norman Shobey, Adam Rudolph, Pepe Espinosa and Chembo Corniel, frame drumming with Layne Redmond and Glen Velez and traps with Sean Dobbins. He has performed with folk legend Pete Seeger, trumpet icons Louis Smith and Ted Curson, saxophonist Rick Margitza, Detroit jazz luminaries Eddie Russ and Larry Nozero, pianist Craig Taborn, electric harpist Deborah Henson-Conant, harmonica virtuoso Madcat Ruth, and Lebanese Oudist Karim Abdul Bader. Mr. Kaufman has performed with numerous ensembles, including the rock band Quick City, the fusion group Pangaea, folk-pop quintet Montage, the Lunar Glee Club and the Lunar Octet.
Mr. Kaufman leads multi-cultural workshops incorporating music and movement for infants – five-year-old children as one of the presenters of the Dancing Babies program through the Ann Arbor Public Library. He has a wealth of experience in conducting hands on drumming workshops for both children and adults in schools, area libraries and summer camps. Aron currently performs with the children’s folk duo Gemini and leads his own band, the Special K trio.
Mr. Kaufman's tunes Subway Tension, Norm's Nambo, and Theme for the Guardian Angels were received enthusiastically at venues throughout Southeastern Michigan including the Montreux-Detroit and Flint Jazz Festivals. Subway Tension received radio airplay on WDET, WEMU-Ypsilanti, MI and WCBN-Ann Arbor, MI and was featured on "Good Afternoon Detroit"-Channel 2 T.V. His composition Heart of Congatar was selected by WGVU as part of a compilation of Michigan Jazz artists on the CD The Best of WGVU Jazz night. Mr. Kaufman was invited to contribute to the soundtrack of the feature film, The Pin, which was released nationally and received critical acclaim in the New York Times. He performed an instrumental version of the nigun (sacred melody) he recorded for the movie soundtrack live at the Michigan Theatre with his Special K Trio.
Jon Krosnick
Jon Krosnick
Jon Krosnick began playing piano at age 6 and drums at age 9. The bulk of his formal musical training took place during ten summers spent at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, MI. There, he studied classical percussion and jazz drumming, and he performed with orchestras, concert bands, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, and back-up bands for musical theater performances. Recognizing his accomplishments during those years, Jon was awarded the NMC Jazz Scholarship, and he won the High School Division's Concerto Competition. At Interlochen, Jon studied classical percussion with many noted instructors, including Niel DePonte (Oregon Symphony) and Scott Stevens (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra). While studying classical percussion with Fred Hinger (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) while in high school, Jon won the Philadelphia Orchestra's Student Concerto Competition and performed with the orchestra.
While in college at Harvard, Jon played with the Harvard Orchestra and the Bach Society Orchestra, and he was the percussion section leader of the M.I.T. Symphony Orchestra. He traveled with the Harvard Orchestra to Germany to perform in the Herbert von Karajan Orchestra Competition. With the M.I.T. Symphony, he toured the east coast and performed on their recordings of contemporary classical works.
Also during his high school and college years, Jon led a parallel career as a jazz drummer. He studied with Dixieland expert Hy Frank, as well as with Peter Erskine, one of the most celebrated drummers on the contemporary international jazz scene. He performed in small jazz groups, as well as with the Harvard Jazz Ensemble, Bob Hope, and Doc Severinson.
During his graduate school years in Ann Arbor, MI, Jon played with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble, as well as small pop, rock, and jazz ensembles, the Lunar Glee Club, and the Lunar Octet.
Jon also led the Jon Krosnick Quintet, that featured Ron Brooks (who played bass with Bob James), Bill Lucas (now in the trumpet section of the Detroit Symphony), Ned Mann (former bassist with Michel Camilo, Tania Maria, and many others), and David Mann (who has since performed with Tower of Power, James Taylor, and Paul Simon).
While in Columbus, Ohio, Jon freelanced with a number of groups and appeared regularly with pianist Geoff Tyus, saxophonist Flip Jackson's Variations, and the jazz-fusion group State of Mind. His playing is also featured on the 1993 CD release by Columbus pianist Bradley Sowash, Out West.
Jon currently performs with Charged Particles, a high-energy fusion trio (www.chargedparticles.com). His playing with that band reflects his primary influences on the drums: Peter Erskine, Dave Weckl, and Steve Gadd. His drumming style blends incredible technique (developed through his classical training) and a sensitivity to his fellow players with an explosive energy that propels the trio to electrifying velocities.
In addition to his accelerating performing schedule with Charged Particles, Jon performed with Chick Corea and John Patitucci in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 2012.
While in college at Harvard, Jon played with the Harvard Orchestra and the Bach Society Orchestra, and he was the percussion section leader of the M.I.T. Symphony Orchestra. He traveled with the Harvard Orchestra to Germany to perform in the Herbert von Karajan Orchestra Competition. With the M.I.T. Symphony, he toured the east coast and performed on their recordings of contemporary classical works.
Also during his high school and college years, Jon led a parallel career as a jazz drummer. He studied with Dixieland expert Hy Frank, as well as with Peter Erskine, one of the most celebrated drummers on the contemporary international jazz scene. He performed in small jazz groups, as well as with the Harvard Jazz Ensemble, Bob Hope, and Doc Severinson.
During his graduate school years in Ann Arbor, MI, Jon played with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble, as well as small pop, rock, and jazz ensembles, the Lunar Glee Club, and the Lunar Octet.
Jon also led the Jon Krosnick Quintet, that featured Ron Brooks (who played bass with Bob James), Bill Lucas (now in the trumpet section of the Detroit Symphony), Ned Mann (former bassist with Michel Camilo, Tania Maria, and many others), and David Mann (who has since performed with Tower of Power, James Taylor, and Paul Simon).
While in Columbus, Ohio, Jon freelanced with a number of groups and appeared regularly with pianist Geoff Tyus, saxophonist Flip Jackson's Variations, and the jazz-fusion group State of Mind. His playing is also featured on the 1993 CD release by Columbus pianist Bradley Sowash, Out West.
Jon currently performs with Charged Particles, a high-energy fusion trio (www.chargedparticles.com). His playing with that band reflects his primary influences on the drums: Peter Erskine, Dave Weckl, and Steve Gadd. His drumming style blends incredible technique (developed through his classical training) and a sensitivity to his fellow players with an explosive energy that propels the trio to electrifying velocities.
In addition to his accelerating performing schedule with Charged Particles, Jon performed with Chick Corea and John Patitucci in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 2012.
Olman Piedra
Olman Piedra
Olman Piedra is Assistant Professor of Percussion and Drum Set at The University of Toledo.
He has performed with a variety of ensembles, including the Sphinx Orchestra (principal percussion), the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, the Ensamble de Percusión Costa Rica, the Toledo Symphony Percussion Trio, Italian pop artist Patrizio Buanne, NOMO (toured around the United States, Canada, and Europe), Roland Vazquez' Latin Jazz Combo (Percussive Arts Society International Convention), vocalist Lauren Kinhan (from The New York Voices), Ken Thomson and Slow/fast, David Bixler’s I-75 ensemble, and the University of Toledo jazz faculty group at the third annual JEN convention in Louisville, KY. Olman has also been performing alongside Grammy Award winning artists The New York Voices at Bowling Green State University’s vocal jazz camp since 2009.
As an active and versatile jazz, contemporary, Latin American, and concert musician, he can be heard on William Bolcom's Grammy award winning album "Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience" with Leonard Slatkin, conductor, on His Name Is Alive's "Detrola”, and “Sweet Earth Flower, a tribute to Marion Brown”, NOMO’s “New Tones”, “The Dreamer” by jazz guitarist/composer Paul Cohn, “Reaching for the Moon” with Morgen Stiegler, “Above the Sound” by pianist/guitarist Ariel Kasler, “Gran Danzón” with Martha Councell-Vargas, and with the University of Toledo Jazz Faculty ensemble CrossCurrents on their debut album on Summit Records.
Olman received his DMA from Bowling Green State University. He also received two Master's in Music degrees, in Percussion Performance and in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, and a BM from Baylor University. Olman is an educational artist/clinician for Amedia Cymbals, Meinl Percussion, Remo Drumheads, and Innovative Percussion.
He has performed with a variety of ensembles, including the Sphinx Orchestra (principal percussion), the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, the Ensamble de Percusión Costa Rica, the Toledo Symphony Percussion Trio, Italian pop artist Patrizio Buanne, NOMO (toured around the United States, Canada, and Europe), Roland Vazquez' Latin Jazz Combo (Percussive Arts Society International Convention), vocalist Lauren Kinhan (from The New York Voices), Ken Thomson and Slow/fast, David Bixler’s I-75 ensemble, and the University of Toledo jazz faculty group at the third annual JEN convention in Louisville, KY. Olman has also been performing alongside Grammy Award winning artists The New York Voices at Bowling Green State University’s vocal jazz camp since 2009.
As an active and versatile jazz, contemporary, Latin American, and concert musician, he can be heard on William Bolcom's Grammy award winning album "Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience" with Leonard Slatkin, conductor, on His Name Is Alive's "Detrola”, and “Sweet Earth Flower, a tribute to Marion Brown”, NOMO’s “New Tones”, “The Dreamer” by jazz guitarist/composer Paul Cohn, “Reaching for the Moon” with Morgen Stiegler, “Above the Sound” by pianist/guitarist Ariel Kasler, “Gran Danzón” with Martha Councell-Vargas, and with the University of Toledo Jazz Faculty ensemble CrossCurrents on their debut album on Summit Records.
Olman received his DMA from Bowling Green State University. He also received two Master's in Music degrees, in Percussion Performance and in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, and a BM from Baylor University. Olman is an educational artist/clinician for Amedia Cymbals, Meinl Percussion, Remo Drumheads, and Innovative Percussion.