Review Centre: Wedding Musicians

"I highly recommend Charlene, she was fantastic from start to finish. We hired Charlene to play the sax for our daughters birthday. We had spoken several times before the day and she was more than happy to add any songs that we wanted to her programme. Charlene was very friendly and gave an absolutely fantastic show! All the guests were commenting on how amazing the Saxophone player was and where had we found her?! Everyone really enjoyed the music and the atmosphere. All round a fantastic experience and I will 100% recommend and use her again in the future."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Charlie Jennison's debut album for Maine's Invisible Music Records is a smooth piece of work. "Smooth" not in the sense of the saccharine stuff served up by contemporary jazz players, but smooth as in classy unpretentiousness in the playing. Jennison is an alumnus of the Do'ah Wild Music Ensemble, a New Hampshire group which recorded for Global Pacific label. He has since gravitated to jazz having recorded with singers Kathleen Kolman and Leila Percy, among others. Jennison has also worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and Buddy DeFranco and is on the faculty of New Hampshire's Phillips Exeter Academy. Forsaking standard material for his first album, the play list is made up of ten Jennison originals all in various tempi and style, but which start getting repetitious along the way as ideas get thin. Some of the better pieces include "To You, From Me" which features Jennison on alto with some exciting drum breaks by Ken Clark. Another piece spotlighting Jennison's alto, which sounds like Phil Woods when Woods is in a mellow mood, is the lovely ballad "Georgie," with "My Anne" rivaling "Georgie" for sheer musical attractiveness. The tenor takes over on "Watch Your Step" with Jennison showing some incredible dexterity with daring fingering technique. There's a nice blues with a funky piano solo by Jim Butka and good bass strumming from John Hunter on "Amanda's Blues." Jennison brings out his soprano on "Rain in My Coffee" which has a light Latin beat with more good piano from Jim Butka. But virtually all tunes on this session take the same course. There's an introduction establishing the basic melody structure, followed by some technically compelling fingering after which there's a return to the melody. No matter how good the instrumentalist is —and Jennison is very good—unless the original material is superior, it's not going to hold one's attention for a whole sitting. And that is the case here. I have heard Jennison on other albums and he handles standard stuff very well. It would have behooved him to have put a couple of those on this CD. This would have strengthened the credibility of the original material."

Reply by Charlie Jennison Quartet
I appreciate Dave Nathan's willingness to review my flagship release and also recognize his candor in suggesting that the original material I wrote could have been strengthened by including some standard tunes as well. I would like to note that, in more than one instance, I used the framework of a jazz standard as the foundation for a new composition. For example, on the track, "To You, From Me," I employed the chord progression to Cole Porter's "You Do Something To Me." My tune, "Amanda's Blues" is also just a variation of a standard minor blues. With a lifetime of experience playing, I now recognize his observation of "virtually all tunes on this session take the same course," to be spot on. This was, after all, my first (and only) excursion into the realm of recorded jazz, and as a young player, I still had a lot to learn about crafting the presentation of material in a more interesting way. Now that I am getting close to 80 years old, I have decided to create another album of original material with the same players, kind of like a bookend to wrap up a successful career teaching and playing (although not recording). Look for a release sometime in 2026!

Rating: 8 / 10 Share this review:

"Luis was an absolutely fantastic addition to our wedding celebration! He was so easy to communicate with prior and really made our day. He read the room really well and adapted the style of music throughout the day, ending on some big hits which everyone loved and really got the party started. Luis even played our first dance song which was extra special to us. All of our guests commented how great Luis was and it was a pleasure to have him as part of our day."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Michael did an absolutely phenomenal job. I was completely blown away with his playing ability. I had modest expectations when I used this site, but his skill at playing the violin amazed me. I had asked him to learn two music pieces of music and he played them flawlessly. The pieces were multi-instrumental and he wove in-between the melodies which were usually played by different instruments/vocalists. He also writes and plays his own arrangements that I highly recommend! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Nevada played for my birthday for about 60 people. They tailored their play list for all my favourites and some surprises too!! They secretly got together with my kids and friends who had written a song and helped them perform it on the night. It was a really great evening and I would totally recommend them!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Vam contractar el grup d’en Kaku (el cantant) per al nostre casament l’any passat. Va venir amb una altra cantant, però sembla que aquest nou projecte pinta molt bé. Ens va escriure fa uns dies per demanar-nos que deixéssim una ressenya en aquesta pàgina per ajudar-los a créixer, així que aquí va. Els desitgem el millor! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We wanted our wedding to have a Spanish touch and this rumba group did it perfectly. His music made us feel like we were in a little corner of Spain. The mix of rhythms and songs kept us entertained all night. Thanks for making our day so special!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Chiara did a wonderful job on the day, animating the cocktail and performing with the band in the evening. We received only positive feedback from our guests regarding her performance. Testimonial Avatar Tijmen and Elena"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Just wanted to say a massive thank you for Sunday, it was everything we could wished for and had lots of compliments! You were truly fantastic, I loved listening to you play, thank you so much!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Just absolutely phenomenal! We will be calling on Piper Gunn in the near future. A real talent."

Reply by American Bagpipes
Thank you so very much! I can't wait to come to Dunedin, Florida and perform at the scottish island games. The 2025 World Pipe Band Championships, the Grade 2 winner was City of Dunedin Pipe Band, congratulations and good luck to them. Now that they are going to be going back this year to compete in grade one...good luck!

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Really loved them! The perfect choice! All our clients have enjoyed Bossa Amiga performance. "

Reply by Bossa Amiga
Thank you so much, Joana!

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you Sandi for making our party memorable. Sandi is amazing, creative and takes the environment to highest level with his music. "

Reply by Nostalgia: Trip to Bollywood
Thanks a lot Rajesh ! It was a pleasure to perform for the milestone event. Looking forward for more .

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Gavie & Abbie were amazing!! They played beautifully during our drinks reception for our wedding and made the day even more special. Thank you!!!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Incredible performance! The variety of music was perfect for our wedding and kept the dance floor packed. Manu is exceptionally talented. He played during our cocktail hour and then teamed up with the DJ later. Everyone had a blast!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"What an Epic performance! It was really nice for you play for us and all the rave was about you on the night, what a fantastic player and you glamorised the event with you ibiza style songs. Many thanks and regards"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: