Nuages Jazz Band French & Latin jazz band - chanson, boleros, bossa nova and swing in 4 languages

The full five-piece needs a level performance area of roughly 4 x 3 metres (less for the trio or quartet), a covered or shaded spot if the event is outdoors, and two standard power sockets within reach of the stage. In the Guadalajara area we bring our own PA, instruments and cabling, so nothing else is required. For destination events we either travel with the system or specify it for a local supplier. If you would prefer us to run through the venue in-house system, let us know in advance and our engineer will coordinate with the technical team.

Ahead of the event we like to know the venue name and address, load-in access (any stairs or long carries), where exactly we will be performing, the timeline for the day, whether the performance is indoors or outdoors, and whether there is a sound limiter or noise restriction in place. With a five-piece band this lets us plan the stage layout and arrive ready to set up smoothly and on time.

Yes. We bring a professional PA system suited to the size of the room, operated live by our own sound engineer for a clean, warm mix. Simple ambient stage lighting can be provided on request. For very large or production-heavy events we are happy to coordinate with the venue or your production team.

Yes. We can play curated background music through our PA before we begin, between sets and after we finish, so there is a seamless soundtrack throughout your event. Just let us know the mood or style you would like for those moments.

The nights we remember are the ones where a room full of guests goes quiet halfway through a song in French and stays that way until the end. Courtyards, terraces and boutique venues suit this band best: rooms with some warmth to them, where an acoustic group can be heard properly and the music becomes part of the evening rather than background noise.

Weddings and intimate celebrations, and dinners where the music is meant to be listened to. We especially enjoy international weddings, where a repertoire in four languages means every table hears something of their own at some point in the night.

The band is led by Ernesto Mercado, a guitarist, arranger and music producer with more than twenty years on stage and in the studio, working across jazz, contemporary and world music. Nuages came out of a shared love for the French and Latin American songbooks, and now performs regularly through the year at weddings, private events, hotels and cultural venues, as well as festival dates.

Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club tradition, Edith Piaf and Charles Trenet, Stephane Grappelli, Antonio Carlos Jobim and the great bolero singers of Mexico and Cuba. The band takes its name from Django Reinhardt's Nuages, which is still the song that best sums up what we are after: simple, warm and quietly devastating.

We usually arrive around 2 hours before we play to load in and sound-check calmly (more for large or complex events). Our standard is a 90-minute performance, which we can split into two or three shorter sets to fit your timeline - for example a ceremony set followed by a cocktail hour. We are flexible on set lengths and timings and build the schedule around your day.

Yes - terraces, gardens and open-air ceremonies are some of our favourite settings. For open-air events we ask for a covered or shaded performance spot to protect the instruments and equipment, a flat and stable surface, and a power supply within reach. If rain is a possibility, a backup covered area is always a good idea.

Both. We have a carefully built repertoire of close to a hundred songs in four languages, and clients are welcome to shape the evening from it - and to request a couple of special songs of their own. As long as the requests suit the band and reach us at least a month in advance, we have time to arrange and rehearse them properly.

Elegant, warm and atmospheric. Hosts tell us the music gave the evening a character a playlist could not, and that guests kept asking about the songs - especially the ones in French. With a live band that can move from a bolero to a bossa nova to a swing standard, people notice the difference.