How Music Customizes Weddings and Parties

Here we are last Wednesday, creating a casual background for the grand opening at Xceed Federal Credit Union, in San Jose. Left to right, Gary Milliken, me, and Andy Norblin. Thanks to Tom Vo (Accolade Photography) for the fine picture.

It was a wonderful evening. Our music was important for setting the congenial mood while not distracting from the business at hand, which featured several “welcoming” speeches, the Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony, and mingling with the guests. Our goal here was to provide upbeat, pleasant, recognizable music that did not intrude. Want your next event to be like this?

This open house is a world away from wedding ceremonies and receptions, anniversaries, and birthday parties, where the music is very important for highlighting unique features and making them special. Here people create opportunities to personalize these celebrations with their favorite music, especially songs with significant meanings for the occasion. Want your next event to be like this?

We’re versatile musicians and we always try very hard to customize our music. During my career I’ve seen hundreds of ways for music to add a personal touch and make every event even more memorable. I hope the following examples give you some good ideas for personalizing YOUR next event.

Here’s one popular request. At some of the most touching wedding ceremonies, personal friends sang special songs, ranging from “Ave Maria” to “Unforgettable” to “Our Love is Here to Stay”. In ceremonies, and during the receptions, everyone expects old favorites like “Pachelbel’s Canon in D”, “As Time Goes By”, “My Funny Valentine”, “Embraceable You”, “The Way You Look Tonight”, “Sentimental Journey”, and “Stardust”. Frequently people want newer favorites, too, like “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, “Happy Together”, “You Light Up My Life”, “L-O-V-E”, “Moon River”, “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”, and “I Will”.

Brides and grooms who met in particular cities have asked us to include “New York, New York”, “Chicago”, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, “Georgia On My Mind”, “April in Paris”, “A Foggy Day in London Town”, “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”, “Hawaiian Wedding Song”, and more.

Two years ago we entertained at a little boy’s one-year birthday party. Many of the guests grew up outside the United States, his parents grew up in India, and they asked us to play a few of their favorite “Bollywood” mega-hits. This doesn’t happen often so we needed a little practice, but needless to say, they loved us! Would you recognize “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas”, “Chookar Mere Manko”, “Papa Kehten Hain”, “Kaho Na Pyar”, “Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaon”, and “Bheegey Hon Tere”?

Birthday guests of honor have been serenaded with “Bill”, “Nancy With the Laughing Face”, “Laura”, “Emily”, “Sweet Lorraine”, “Waltz for Debbie”, “Mona Lisa”, and more.

Whenever a wedding day coincided with a parent’s or grandparent’s anniversary or birthday, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” or applauded the couple waltzing to the “Anniversary Song”.

Themes are always popular. Once at a wedding planned on a Cinderella theme, our dinner music featured old Disney songs including “When You Wish Upon a Star”, “Heigh-Ho”, “Someday My Prince Will Come”, “Bippidy-Bobbidy-Boo”, and the first dance was “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”.

Finally, I remember a wedding ceremony where we accompanied the bride and the groom singing “All The Things You Are” to each other. It was lovely — really choked me up. Know the song? Written in 1939, music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein.

You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.
You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are.
Some day my happy arms will hold you,
And some day I'll know that moment divine,
When all the things you are, are mine!

Back to reality. On February 8, I’ll be entertaining brides-to-be in the “Bridal Extravaganza” at the San Jose Fairmont; on February 14 in a romantic Valentine's Day dinner at the Toll House, in Los Gatos; and on March 1st in the “Wedding Fair and Open House” at the Crowne Plaza Cabana, in Palo Alto. Details on MagnoliaJazz.com.

By the way, will you be celebrating a significant event soon? Throw a party and include us. Friends planning a party? Please recommend us. Today I’m talking with people planning soirees for Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day. If you’ll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now’s a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We’ll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You’ll love what we do. We’re easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration, and I hope to see you soon.

What do you think about all this? I’d love your opinions and comments.

Jazz, Blogs & Social Networks: “Just an Online Call Away”

Here we are last September, creating a soft mood at a benefit cocktail party for The Service League of San Mateo. We’re in the sitting room at Ralston Hall, a lovely old mansion in Belmont. Left to right, Gary Milliken, me, and Andy Norblin. Thanks to Scott (Scott Buschman Photography) for the picture.

I recently announced three of my New Year’s resolutions -- based on “something old”, “something blue”, and “something borrowed”. Here is the last, “something new”.

Look around, you’re reading my BLOG right now. This is about as new as it gets these days! Do you write one, too? My BLOG is like my own newspaper “opinion” column I create on my computer whenever I want and broadcast worldwide in an instant, to praise outstanding colleagues, promote my band, and offer random comments.

This year I resolve to get better acquainted with blogs and social networks -- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr -- to name a few. These are the cutting edge of how to keep in touch with our friends, colleagues, and clients.

These evolving technologies certainly aren’t for everyone, but you ignore them at your peril. They don’t replace good old face-to-face conversations or telephone calls, but they do add a new practical dimension to our communication. Today you can broadcast and receive text, pictures, videos, music, speech -- even entire multi-media presentations -- nearly everywhere in the world. And the near future promises much more, on our desktop computers, on the cellphones in our pockets, and on our TVs at home.

So for my fourth new year’s resolution, I will learn to exchange more kinds of information, more easily, to help me stay in even better touch with people and do an even better job of taking care of business more effectively. Life isn’t all about “fun and games”, I know, but they make our day-to-day lots more interesting.

In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful New Year. So far, I’m enjoying mine. I’m marketing more, and on February 8, I’ll be entertaining brides-to-be in the Bridal Extravaganza at the San Jose Fairmont. Details on my website.

By the way, will you be celebrating a significant event soon? Throw a party and include us. Today I'm talking with people planning parties for Valentine's Day and St Patrick’s Day. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We'll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. Please visit MagnoliaJazz.com for details, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I'd love your opinions and comments.

How I Help Plan the Music for a Party

Here we are last October, creating a lively mood at a benefit cocktail party for Ballet San Jose. We’re in the lounge at the elegant Corinthian Event Center, in San Jose. Left to right, Dale Mills, me, and Andy Norblin. Thanks to Chris Johnson for the photo.

Last week I announced two of my New Year’s resolutions -- “something old” and “something blue”. Here is “something borrowed”. Fourth resolution tomorrow.

I help people plan memorable parties. At least the musical aspects of wedding receptions for brides-to-be, open houses for business owners, and birthday & anniversary banquets for everyone. I’m a musician, not a professional planner, but in the past 34 years I’ve learned a thing or two about how music sets the right mood for every event.

When someone asks for planning help, I always say “What kind of atmosphere do you want? What do would you like your party to look like? sound like? What aromas would you like? How would you like your guests to feel?” And depending on what they reply, I suggest ways that the band can help create what they want.

I borrowed this practical approach to planning from my friend Allan Jaffe, who was the original founder, business manager, and musicians’ agent for Preservation Hall, in New Orleans. Jaffe loved and admired the musicians he worked with. Most of them were born between 1890-1910 -- Louis Armstrong’s generation. They loved their city and its traditions, made a living and raised their families there, and their music livened up every social occasion you can imagine.

Jaffe used to tell me these men worked hard and could do anything. Once I heard him tell the band’s trumpeter, “Percy, let’s play ‘Just A Little While to Stay Here’, and set the tempo like you’re at the end of a long parade and you’ve got to be back in five minutes.”

Hearing him use such a practical description stuck with me, so today I still speak to a bride’s senses -- her imagination’s vision, sound, smell, taste, and touch -- to help her plan the music for her wedding reception. Wouldn't such down-to-earth questions help you, too?

This practical approach has always been effective, and more would be better. So this year I resolve to continue using it, only moreso. I’ll make our conversations last just a few minutes longer and ask one more leading question than I would have asked last year.

In my next post I’ll describe another resolution: based on “something new”. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful New Year. So far, I’m enjoying mine. I’m marketing more, and on February 8, I’ll be entertaining brides-to-be in the Bridal Extravaganza at the San Jose Fairmont. Details on my website.

By the way, will you be celebrating a significant event soon? Throw a party and include us. Today I'm talking with people planning parties for Valentine's Day and St Patrick’s Day. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We'll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. Please visit MagnoliaJazz.com for details, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I'd love your opinions and comments.

A New Year’s Resolution for the Blues

Happy 2009. Here we are last Wednesday, creating a festive “Roaring 20’s” atmosphere for a swinging New Year’s Eve party in Palo Alto. Lots of dancing and requests for “the good old, good ones”, as Louis used to call them. Left to right, Gary Milliken, Steve Apple, Brian Richardson, Bruce Jolly, me, and Andy Norblin. Thanks for the wonderful photo, Adrienne. I’m glad someone brought a real camera.

Last week I announced my four New Year’s resolutions, based on “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. I’ve already described the first one, “something old”, and today I’ll describe my “something blue” resolution.

OK, look who’s crying the blues these days. Not Walmart, McDonald’s, and those of us who revamped and refocused our marketing. It’s everyone else, especially the mainstream media. Newspapers & magazines have lost subscriptions, TV & radio have lost markets, and all have lost advertising, big time, to their online competitors. So now watch as all of them desperately embrace the internet. For example, all new TVs will soon be able to download movie and program videos, as well as photos, “discussion boards”, and email.

Internet news services, independent newsletters, and bloggers are killing newspapers and magazines. Last week I heard a newspaperman suggest that people who value good journalism should find a way to pay for it, rather than get it all free, online. And I agree, on principle. It’s a free market, after all.

The benefits of “good” journalism, whatever you think that means, most likely come from a trained professional, wise and skilled enough to perform well and make a living at it.

Hmmmm. This explanation sounds similar to something I might tell a client. You too? I’ll bet. Well, this will be a good subject for another day.

These days, you’ll hear and read plenty -- especially from professional journalists -- decrying the general acceptance of self-publishing bloggers, who can spread wisdom just as easily as misinformation or poorly-written, one-sided stories based on narrow opinions and a few twisted facts.

I’m awed by our ever-changing world, and I want to stay up-to-date on everything newsworthy. So for my second resolution I will subscribe to one more newspaper and one more magazine, read deeply and listen widely, online and offline, and then give myself a “news-free week” every few months, just to clear the dust.

Maybe this is like giving CPR to a dinosaur, but I want to look around, see what stories and opinions I like and what I dislike, and if they’re well-thought-out and well-written, I’ll support them. Putting my money where my mouth is. Although I think “free online” can be good, even when ads have to cover the production expenses, we risk missing an important story or viewpoint that may be unable to gain a journalist’s attention in our fad-driven world.

Hey, my notices can’t always be about weddings and parties.

In my next post I’ll describe another resolution: “something borrowed”. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy a wonderful New Year. I resolve to enjoy mine. I’m marketing more, and on February 8, I’ll be entertaining brides-to-be in the Bridal Extravaganza at the San Jose Fairmont. Details on my website.

By the way, will you be celebrating a significant event soon? Throw a party and include us. Today I'm talking with people planning parties for Valentine's Day and Easter. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We'll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. Please visit MagnoliaJazz.com for details, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I'd love your opinions and comments.

Jazzing Up A New Year's Resolution

Yes, that’s me last week, wearing my good luck scarf in the lobby at “The Nutcracker”, in San Jose. I'm on the right, and it looks like I’ll need plenty of luck. It's another photo taken on my iPhone. Thank you, Bunch.

For good luck, wedding planners often have the bride wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, and that’s my theme today. I’ve been considering New Year’s Resolutions, and decided they have to be upbeat this year. Same with you? Anyway, today I settled on four gems, each inspired by something I read or heard last Sunday morning.

First, something OLD. How often do we hear the expression “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”? It first appeared in a 1905 book by philosopher George Santayana, and Ben Stein mentioned it in his recent column about why people continue to fall for “you-can’t-fail-to-get-rich” schemes, despite all we’ve learned about them.

Stein is a practical, sensible fellow, and he uses finances here as a springboard to talk about old, tried-and-true notions of what REALLY counts. Things your mother taught you. Hint: it’s not about money in the bank -- that stuff comes and goes. It’s what kind of person you truly are. How you treat family, friends, and strangers, and support your community and nation.

I like his message, and I’d add it’s also how you prepare for the future. So for my first resolution, I’m riffing on a theme from “random acts of kindness”. I resolve to smile at the first driver who cuts me off every morning. Wouldn’t it be nice if each of us added a little more good cheer every day?

This resolution is nothing new, but it’ll be a start. In my next blog I'll reveal another resolution: something BLUE. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration. I resolve to enjoy mine. I’ll be jazzing up a private party for several hundred people in Palo Alto. In the works since last September, the party’s theme is “Fascinatin’ Rhythm”, and the place will be SWINGIN’!

By the way, will you be celebrating a significant event soon? Throw a party and include us. Today I'm talking with people planning parties for Valentine's Day and Easter. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We'll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. Please visit MagnoliaJazz.com for details, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I'd love your opinions and comments.

Holiday Parties in January?

December 5, 2008.

Here we are last night, at our regular “first Thursday in December” gig -- the annual Yale Alumni Holiday Party. Left to right: Gary Milliken, Steve Apple, and Andy Norblin. I’m taking the photo with my iPhone. (You're right -- I need a real camera, with a flash. Any recommendations?)

Recognize the room? It’s the famous “Alexandra’s Room”, on the 32nd floor of the Westin St Francis, in San Francisco. What a place -- floor-to-ceiling windows cover every wall! Whenever I’m there I’m stunned by the fabulous panoramic views of San Francisco. Second photo is a closer look at those windows, and third is a shot, facing east and showing Post St on the left, Union Square in the middle, and Geary St on the right.

Yesterday was another festive night at one of San Francisco’s busiest hotels. Sure, December is a bit slower than in previous years. This glum observation is shared by most of the event professionals I know -- caterers, facilities, photographers, decorators, florists, and other entertainers. However, many of them tell me that next month is looking better than usual. Understandable, since traditionally for most of us January rates are lower and availability is higher, so it appears to me that this year’s “holiday season” might be spilling into early 2009 in a big way. Are you finding that, too?

Bottom line: I expect lots of holiday parties will fill January -- scaled down, perhaps, but still cheerful get-togethers to celebrate this special time of the year. In fact, starting at 1:30pm on December 31, we’re booked for four different New Year’s Eve celebrations, ending with a festive, elegant dinner party at the Toll House Hotel, in Los Gatos. Looking for a wonderful New Year’s Eve? Join us, and enjoy a memorable dinner, accompanied by the trio playing your favorite popular standards and jazz classics. We’ve all been waiting for 2009, and this will be a great way to end the old year and begin a bright new one.

Ooops, full disclosure time. Actually, the trio at the Toll House will be three of my best associates, men I often work with, but I can’t be there myself. Instead, I’ll be at an engagement on the books since last September, leading the sextet at a private party in Palo Alto.

So how about you? Still have one more party to plan? Consider scheduling it for January. You’ll have lots of options, and you’ll avoid the end-of-the-year frenzy while you’re dealing with other priorities right now. Today I'm talking with people planning parties for New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We’ll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. We entertain at private parties nearly every day, and you can preview us on New Year’s Eve. Please visit MagnoliaJazz.com for details on this event and more, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I’d love your opinions and comments.

Jazzing Up Support for Local Charities

November 19, 2008.

Here we are last Thursday evening, providing a lively atmosphere for a great meal, company, and conversation in the gym at Bellarmine College Prep, in San Jose. Thanks for the nice photo, Jordan (of Jordan River Productions, San Jose). Left to right: me, Andy Norblin, and Gary Milliken.

Well over 400 people attended this dinner & auction, which benefited Family Supportive Housing. This was the 22nd annual “Soup Kitchen Dinner”, and we’ve donated our services for every one! In fact, everybody involved -- all 26 restaurants & caterers, all the auction prize donors, and all the volunteers -- gave to help this worthwhile program. As I see it, generosity like this is important for a number of reasons.

First, a story. Back in the mid 1970s, a 40-year-old Portland housewife named Jean, working days and attending college at night, read about archaeologists discovering an odd human skeleton, dating back to the Ice Age. The odd part: the bones revealed a cave man who had been elderly and crippled. Jean wondered how, in that savage world, could that crippled person reach a ripe old age. Curious, she began reading everything she could find about prehistoric people, and, though she’d never written fiction before, she wound up writing a very successful series of novels, beginning with “Clan of the Cave Bear”, published in 1980.

Bottom line: That old skeleton is probably the earliest evidence of what today we’d called a civilized community, where we don’t simply let our weakest struggle and die. These days, with the world’s economy teetering, lots of local charitable organizations help sustain our community, and they need our support. Not necessarily the type of “charities” which, when they receive a donation, will send a glossy letter with thank you gifts -- a calendar, return address stickers, or a pen with their logo -- and then ask for another donation.

Worthy charities provide needed services -- like housing, healthcare, job-training, child-care, and food -- that keep our communities together, productive, and thriving. One way or another, the quality of our lives, and our ability to make a living, relies on a vibrant community. I’m very lucky to be in a position to support these efforts. How about you? Wouldn’t it be nice if all of us actively helped support our communities? Think about how you can contribute to this good work. Your reward will include not only strengthening your neighborhood, keeping your own commerce alive, and feeling good, but also you’ll get to know many like-minded people, whose friendships inevitably bring unexpected benefits.

In my case, at the start of every year, I always set aside a special fund to pay the band for playing at benefit events throughout Silicon Valley, this year including Family Supportive Housing, Second Harvest Food Bank, Peninsula Center for the Blind, and Alzheimers Association. We also actively support our community’s cultural organizations, like American Musical Theatre, Ballet San Jose, San Francisco Symphony, San Jose Museum of Art, and Broadway By The Bay.

I’m glad to join all these efforts, primarily to help my community, but also to enrich my life and to enhance the band’s visibility. Funny thing: The more we work, it seems, the more new offers we receive.

Today I'm talking with people planning parties for New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day. If you'll have a party on one of these days, or on any day in between, now's a good time to plan the details, including the music. Have a question? We’ll have the answer.

Call us at 408-245-9120. You'll love what we do. We're easy to work with, so let our experience help your celebration. We entertain at private parties nearly every day, and you can preview us on Thanksgiving Day, November 27 (at the newly remodeled Mountain Winery, in Saratoga) and on Wednesday, December 31 (at a festive New Year’s Eve dinner party at the Toll House Hotel, in Los Gatos). Please visit Magnoliajazz.com for details on these events and more, and I hope to see you soon.

Please leave me a comment. What do you think about all this? I’d love your opinions and comments.