The Luna Collective is a Boston based quintet that got it’s start seeking to preserving and perform the music of Art Blakey’s many Jazz Messengers. The band initially formed through a weekly jam session, aptly named Luna Sessions, led by drummer Mike Tucker at The Luna Theater. As each week passed Tucker sought to bring a more organized sound to the house band, featuring the ensemble as much as the soloist, a sound he knew from years spent listening to the Art Blakey school of hard bop. As they began to grow and take shape, the band featured specific composers and recordings at Luna Sessions. Soon The Luna Collective has recorded some of their original tunes and released them in November of 2017 with plans to release a second in the fall of 2018. Each member of the band plays and composes a wide range of music outside of The Collective, but the original music brought to the the band is arranged and played with an ear to The Messengers sound. The Luna Collective EP was released for “Giving Tuesday” after Thanksgiving 2017 as a benefit for The Lowell Boys & Girls Club Music Clubhouse, the recording collects four tunes written by Tucker and features members of The Collective Mike Caudill on Tenor, Chris Brown on Guitar and Sven Larson on Bass.