"Conjunto Clave means . . ." the bongocero pauses to think of the best way to explain...

Conjunto Clave will play 7 p.m. Sunday at Lion's park as part of the Norman's Summer Breeze Free Concert Series. The show will be the nine member Latin jazz/salsa band's first public gig since New Years Eve.

Bongocero Blaine Nelson explained the reason for the band's hiatus.

"Well, one guy was shot dead somewhere in Mexico and we lost two more to heroin," Nelson said before flashing a wry grin.

Hyperbole aside, the reasons for the seven month break are more regenerative than implosive.

"Some members moved and we needed to replace them," Nelson said. "But mainly we were spending a lot of our time working on our CD."

The CD, Conjunto Clave's first, will be released sometime between late August and early September. So with the band's CD now in post-production, the hiatus is over and Conjunto Clave is ready to get back to performing live.

"We're looking forward to Sunday," Nelson said. "The concert's outside, it's free, all ages can attend and we just want people to come out and have a good time."

"Conjunto Clave? It's kind of a weird translation in English," the timbelero's eyes turn pensive . . .

Before a booking for Summer Breeze, before CD's, before local fame, there was Boyd Littel's vision of a starting a Latin jazz/salsa band. Littel is Conjunto Clave's band leader and timbelero.

"As a percussionist I'd always been interested in Latin rhythms, so around the summer of 99 I decided to get some friends and people together to play that style of music," Littel said.

After putting the band together, arranging music and practicing, the band that would become Conjunto Clave was ready to expose Norman's live music fans to Latino vibe.

"I originally thought it would be difficult to even put a band like this together," Littel said. "I really didn't expect people to respond so favorably."

For Littel, the coming together of the band and its subsequent popularity was a surprise.

"Our first two gigs at the Deli were massive," Littel added. "It really blew up."

Blew up indeed. So massive has the response been to Conjunto Clave they were contacted to play for Norman's Summer Breeze Concerts.

"The band name? Over all it means . . . well, it has a figurative sense when . . ." the saxophonist says looking for the right translation . . .

Sax player Kasra George Ahmadi said that playing the Summer Breeze Concert Series is an ideal setting for Conjunto Clave to get back out doing gigs again.

"People have been hitting our Web site leaving messages asking when we were going to start playing again," Ahmadi said. "It's going to be great to get out there again Sunday."

Although Ahmadi understands that Conjunto Clave fans have wanted the band out playing, he said the break was what the band needed to stay true to spirit of the music.

"All of us in the band are committed to paying respect to the style of music that we play," Ahmadi said.

And it is Conjunto Clave's commitment to music that translates into a great show for audiences.

"This music is really accessible," Ahamdi said. "Audiences can feel the different histories and cultures in the music. People really get into it."

The bongocero thinks about all the huff about what Conjunto Clave means: "You know what? A name is just a name. Just come out and hear the sound."
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