Consisting of Steve Hiltner/as, Jon Krosnick/dr, Paul VornHagen/ts, Brandon Cooper/tp, Sam Clark/g, Keaton Royer/p, Jeff Dalton/b, Aron Kaufman/cong and Olman Piedra/perc, the salsa-flavored Lunar Octet gets together for a festive collection of originals. The percolating hands of Kaufman on the congas sizzles under Hiltner’s searing horn and Clark’s veering around the punchy horns on “Norm’s Nambo” while Cooper’s Lee Morganish horn sears with VoranHagen’s rich tenor on the hip bopper “Toote Suite”. Dark hues and a mix of piano and percussion scintillate on “Samba Diabolicoa” while Hiltner’s rich clarinet adds folk flavor to Cooper’s romantic brass on “Until I Find The Words.” Picante’!