Anyone Need a Band?

Cherries are great this year, and $5 for two sacks is even better. I think it was easily three pounds. But skip this post if you're only interested in food. It's a selfish ploy to save money on my part.

After much research, I've decided my favorite wedding band choice is Fifth Avenue Music (aka. Fifth Avenue Orchestras). These are the reasons:

• Their musicians are fantastic. By that, I mean they have both stellar singers and amazing instrumentalists. A lot of bands will at least try to have good singers because most people can tell between a good and bad singer, but taking the extra step to have musicians who really know their instruments takes it to a whole other level for me. The saxophonist at 5th Avenue really blew me away.


• They have singers that can cover the styles I really care about, which would be old standards, contemporary indie rock type music, classic old school rock, and some latin salsa type music just for fun. They have singers that can cover reggae, rap, and all the decades starting from the 30s.


• They have many sized bands to choose from: anywhere from five to twelve pieces, at give or take $700 a piece. Prices go up during busy season and down during slow season, so don't hold me to that number.


• They provide reasonably priced cocktail hour music, a master of ceremonies to make basic announcements throughout the night, and a DJ to play during the band's breaks so that at no point will there be just a plain old CD popped in to play for fifteen minutes.


• A couple of stellar reviews. The first was from a theknot.com user, the other is from a Chowhound Angeleno. Both said the band was really easy to work with and received many compliments from the guests. More importantly, the band and MC were able to get guests up and moving.


• The owner of Fifth Avenue, Jack Bielan, was incredibly helpful during our first interview. He used to work in the recording industry, and was also a musician. Therefore, he not only knows how to manage a band, he also knows his music theory. He was able to clearly explain what makes a band great, how he assembles his bands, what works and what doesn't, and to offer suggestions for cost saving without sacrificing quality. At the same time, he was not overly salesmanly in any way, and truly seemed enthusiastic about his work.

But the point of all this is this: if anyone needs a band in the upcoming year, give Fifth Avenue a try and tell them I referred you! I've been promised a referral discount, so I'm putting it out there. Some other bands I've researched and rejected are: Chuck Wansley Band, West Coast Music, Good Vibrations, The Vibe, Dwight Kennedy, and Bob Gail Productions. The reasons vary, but are probably one of the following: too expensive, only had very large bands available, poor quality of musicians, or did not do a good job of getting back to me. Rembrandt and Evening Entertainment are still in the running, but we'll see what happens in terms of bargaining between the three places. Thank you, as always, for indulging me.