It took a reluctant Power Center audience until about two-thirds of the way through Juan de Marcos González and the Afro-Cuban All Stars’ performance to get on its feet and start dancing.

Not for a lack of trying on the band’s part.

But once González and his 13-piece ensemble of Cuba’s finest jazz performers won over the crowd, there was no putting them back in their seats.

It took the audience’s refusal to leave the auditorium for the band to return to the bandstand and for González to strike a deal to bring the proceedings to a close.

“We’ll do one more, but on one condition,” he said. “You have to keep dancing.”

That deal struck, the band unleashed a final number, wrapping up one of the most buoyant, playful and enjoyable concerts of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival season.

On a perfectly hot and steamy night for Cuban music, the band offered the best of the many sides of Latin jazz — stunning solos, superb ensemble playing, a loose-yet-airtight stage show and emotive, soulful singing.

And though some of the audience took a while to begin dancing, heads were bobbing from outset, and solos were rewarded with hearty applause. That the band appeared to be having as much fun as the audience only made it better.

The band swelled to as many as 13 on stage at once, including bongos, congas, timbales, piano, bass, three singers and a three-man trumpet section. Needless to say, the band was rhythmic and very brassy, yet nuanced and soulful.

But pianist Ivan ‘Melón’ González Lewis was sublime throughout Thursday’s performance. His rhythmic playing was precise and insistent, yet it had enough life to to keep it interesting, offering some jaw droppingly gorgeous solos that ebbed and flowed during rapid runs up and down the keyboard. Stunning playing by a pianist worth hearing more of.

A set of solo turns by the three percussionists was interesting, if a bit long, then singer José Gil Pinera took center stage — and center aisle — whipping the crowd into a frenzy as he strolled through the seats, González in tow, singing, dancing and, particularly, charming everyone in his path.

By the time he and González returned to the band stand and wound things up, the crowd was ready for more. Unfortunately, aside from the unplanned and sweet-natured encore, the night was done just as it was getting started.

But as the audience bounced out into the near-tropical Ann Arbor summer heat, you could almost hear the the music still playing.

Will Stewart is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com.

Afro-Cuban All Stars performing live in New York on Independence Day: