Life Unity Music Amplified

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 2, 2007.

History
Formed in the summer of 2003 in New York, USA. The group separated in Fall of 2007.

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 Sidney 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, where he ran the EastEnd ‘all star’ Youth Jazz Ensemble. He currently is the Theater & Media Director for the United Nations International School in NYC. Dan was the co-founder 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.

Starbucks/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. 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. Though the band did not win the secondary competition from the compilation CD, which was a collection based on 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." They announced plans to record another album either this summer or winter of 2007.

Performances

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