Review Centre: 1940s Era Musicians & Bands

"ust recently, the wife and I settled down to watch Harmonica Lewinsky at the Owlsworld tent at the Rickmansworth Canal Festival. Ha ha; bloody hell :-D Now, *there's* someone successfully mining the music hall/rockney/Americana/Tottenham-to-Hemel mash-up seam, with a guitar, a box of harmonicas and a flat cap his only tools; there’s not many of his kind left these days. Top marks also for his stage persona—that of a man so used to hostile audiences that's he's willing to create one for himself if necessary :-D—which made for an inordinately entertaining hour. The wife and I even danced a bit: we were meant to do a conga, but instead we did a messy foxtrot to “My Old Man’s a Dustman” because, when in Rome, you’ve got to have a right old proper cockney knees up. Or something. Very enjoyable indeed."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I am delighted to recommend Vincent Cassotta of Enfield CT in pursuit of his grant application for the Louis Armstrong Tribute with a Jazz Quartet performing at the Eli Whitney Elementary School. My previous role as the PK-12 Music Coordinator for the Enfield Public School District has brought me in direct contact with the professional, innovative, creative, and artistic musician and retired teacher Mr. Vincent Cassotta. I have witnessed first-hand the impact and quality of his quality music instruction provided for his thirty-nine years of teaching tenure in our community. To have the opportunity to bring the genre of American Jazz Music as a tribute to the legend of Louis Armstrong with quality professional musicians under Mr. Cassotta’s organization is a blessing to the young minds and ears of our elementary students, especially at a time when music education in Enfield offers less opportunities. This past Spring I had the opportunity to guest speak at Mr. Cassotta’s retirement party celebrating his many years of service in music education. In that speech I spoke about multiple areas beyond the collegial and professional relationship Mr. Cassotta, and I achieved since 1999. These in my opinion provide strong evidence for the Enfield Cultural Council to support this mission of this application fiscally. One of the points shared was that Mr. Cassotta balanced his career of music education and professional trumpet performing with incredible success throughout his career. Aside from the technical, logistical and time management responsibilities from such an endeavor, he achieved this success with never letting go of the care demonstrated to his students, family members, school building staff, and his music professional colleagues. The fact that he desires to continue to expand the music opportunities to students in Enfield now in his retirement resting years is evidence of his dedication to this art form and willingness to always educate. Furthermore Mr. Cassotta’s wealth of experience professionally as a performing musician and student of the trumpet is stellar. In his education Mr. Cassotta studied trumpet with Rolf Smedvig of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Empire Brass Quintet, Jimm Maxwell a NYC Studio Musician, Roger Murtha of the Hartford Symphony and Hartt School of Music, and Dan Patrylak of the Eastman Brass Quintet and UCONN. To continue, Mr. Cassotta was a freelance performer with Frank Sinatra, Manhattan Transfer, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Vinton, Bob Hope, The Four Tops, Phil Woods, The Temptations, Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Williams, Franki Valli and the Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Including numerous local and state pit orchestra’s and local well know jazz bands. He has also published works as a composer and arranger with KJOS music as well as multiple professional recordings. I strongly urge you to consider Mr. Cassotta’s application for this grant. Your support will help impact music education in Enfield and continue to make a meaningful impact on the lives of its students. Thank you for considering this recommendation. Sincerely, Mark F. Reppucci Jazz, Orchestra, Music Technology and Piano Teacher Enfield High School Write your tex"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Pleasant background music First of all, thank you very much for musically supporting our anniversary. As I mentioned during dinner, your music fit the occasion perfectly. Lovely background music that does not dominate, allowing for conversations. During and after the event, I received many positive reactions about your presence, and several people asked for your website. I hope you gain some future bookings from this! The booking process was very clear, and contact was pleasant. On the day itself, everything went according to plan, and everyone was very satisfied. "

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"I wanted to say what a superb performance you put on for our 220 wedding guests. Your music was absolutely fantastic and created the perfect vibe and atmosphere for our outdoor garden party. You all looked awesome too. Thank you so much for everything, and for coming all the way to Norfolk, we thoroughly appreciated it all, and so many of our guests commented on how great you were too. I also wanted to say how excellent your communication was both before and during the event. Overall you've been a real pleasure to work with."

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"The Crotchet Club were excellent! They really made our wedding reception perfect with great jazz that suited the occasion. They were also very friendly and accommodating with our arrangements. Couldn't have asked for more!"

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"Hi Melissa, This is a short thank you for your excellent performance at my 80th Birthday Celebrations on Saturday evening. Many people have asked how i managed to engage such a professional vocalist. Your selection of music was spot-on and expertly delivered. I hope you enjoyed your evening with us and the audience lived up to your expectations. Let's hope "We'll Meet Again"."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"The Gajè Gipsy Swing was wonderful to work with. Alessandro was quick to answer all questions prior to the performance - they were extremely professional and made every step simple (even able to accommodate a last minute extension of playing time). The music was lovely and classic and the perfect addition to our cocktail party. I highly recommend this band!"

Reply by Gajè Gipsy Swing
Thank you Kylie for your kind words, it was our plesure to play for you! Alessandro

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"Thank you so much for singing so beautifully. EVERYONE loved you and you were the talk of the party! That your voice is just heavenly!... Big thank you! Hugs. Isia"

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"I cannot talk highly enough of Cara! She has the most pure, wonderful, insanely professional voice I have ever heard! Every song she sings is unbelievably amazing! So much so that guests at the parties he has performed at have said... Is that actually her real voice coming out of her ACTUAL mouth"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Sarah, your singing was amazing today and very moving. It was a joy t accompany you. Many glowing comments and complements afterwards. Would gladly recommend you and look forward to accompanying you again in the future. (10/10) P.Jebson"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We hired a vinyl DJ for our party. We were very pleased with it. He brought exactly the music we like. He added a touch of ambiance with background music and lighting, and it was a definite success. Everyone could still chat happily without being drowned out by the music. But if anyone had wanted to dance, I certainly could have. We were very pleased!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you so much for the fantastic performance you each put on at the "Food For Good Ball". We were delighted to have you entertain our guests and you certainly delivered! It was a pleasure working with you and your enthusiasm towards the night was great."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you for singing for us at The Woolpack yesterday afternoon! We all enjoyed your performance and the selection of music was really lovely! My friends especially loved it, they came down especially for the jazz music! We would love to have you appear again at some time for us."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Fleur Stevenston is a wonderful musician and really made my event a memorable one. She was organised, timely and quick to respond to any correspondence. I highly recommend her for any event."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

" We received thousand compliments for the choice of band from our guests, Nalìs were wonderful. From the first meeting Annalisa made us feel as if she were only following our wedding, available whenever we had questions, a truly professional, delicate and delightful person. The songs were all beautiful, masterfully performed, they helped us with the music of the ceremony, then they covered the aperitif and after dinner. They prepared two songs especially for us, for the first dance and for the cutting of the cake. We danced between dinner and cutting the cake, even my 85 and 95 year old grandmothers jumped on the floor for a dance! Thanks guys, it was perfect!!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: