Thanks to Laurel McConnell and all the folks at Get Hitched, Give Hope for making the JPQ the featured vendor on their blog today! We can’t wait to play at this wonderful soiree in a couple months. Get your tickets now and hob-nob with the finest wedding vendors in Seattle.
Susannah & Rob’s Wedding
We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon (Fathers’ Day) with Susannah and Rob at Golden Gardens for their wedding. They were two of the most easy-going soon-to-be-married’s I’ve worked with and their family and friends were much the same. The day was a tad cloudy but it stayed dry the whole time and a good time was had by all. This was a fun crowd that liked to dance, and we were happy to oblige. We were joined by the lovely and talented Katrina Wible on vocals who wowed them all day, as she usually does, with her blend of jazz standards and R&B classics. Here’s a few photos I snapped:
Katrina gives a dancing lesson
Gotta love a crowded dancefloor
But nothing beats dancing barefoot on the beach!
Anna & Alfredo’s Wedding
We had an absolutely wonderful time at Anna & Alfredo’s wedding this past Saturday at Top of the Market. It was one of those sunny Springtime days in Seattle where everything seems to be just right with the world. What a great day to be married!
I had the pleasure of playing with Darrius Willrich on piano and Evan Flory-Barnes on bass. Evan is the regular bassist in my Quartet and it’s always a treat to play with him. I’ve known Darrius for years and we’ve played together a bunch, but it had been a while. He’s an incredible piano player and the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. I was glad to have the chance to spend the evening with him. This is one smokin’ trio, if I do say so myself!
Anna and Alfredo came to our recent show at Tula’s and told me that they just wanted us to be ourselves and do what we do, which is always nice to hear. They did have a few requests, however, which turned out to be great ones! For their recessional, for instance, they had us play “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. It’s always a challenge to take a well-know song from outside the jazz genre and do it justice. But it’s a challenge I love! And that song is so simple yet so beautiful that all we really had to do was play it straight and it worked out great. The bigger challenge was learning Jim Croce’s “Time In a Bottle”. Of course I’ve heard this song countless times, but I never paid too much attention to it until Anna asked if this could be their first dance. I take first dances very seriously, and wanted to create an arrangement that would be remembered by all in attendance. It took me a while, but the response was incredible, and I think we will add this song to our regular repertoire!
Top of the Market is a gorgeous place to have a wedding, with stunning views of Puget Sound. The staff took great care of us and was very complimentary about our music. The bartender told me she was thrilled to have such a great live band and not another cheesy DJ!
Thanks to Anna & Alfredo for including us in their big day.
Kathryn Krogstad was the photographer for the wedding and some of her beautiful shots:
Beth & Chad’s Beautiful Wedding
We had the pleasure of celebrating Beth & Chad’s wedding last night at Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard. I met with them at their house about a month ago and they immediately felt like friends. They are warm and welcoming, and we talked about weddings, music, living in Seattle and their new kitty Gus. Beth was extremely organized and a pleasure to work with and told me that they just wanted us to do our thing, which is always great to hear.
So last night Josh, D’Vonne, Evan and I were joined by the lovely Katrina Wible on vocals. Katrina is one of my favorite singers in town because she’s a true musician, and she can sing just about anything, from Ella Fitzgerald to Stevie Wonder and everything in between! Check out her band Soul Kata for some great tunes.
Everyone at the wedding was just as nice as the happy couple themselves, and we received many great compliments. The best was from the mother of the bride, who told me that they’ve had 4 weddings for their 3 children and we’re the best band of them all! Once the dance floor was opened up it was crowded all night long.
Big thanks to Kaycee Parker of Parker Events and her assistant Tali for a great job coordinating the evening. Kaycee is a pro and kept everything running smoothly and calmly all night long. And I had the pleasure of meeting a new photographer, Ashwin Rao, who takes gorgeous pictures. He and his assistant Chris were fun and lively, and got some amazing shots of the band. All the photos you see here are Ashwin’s. He’s is a full-time sports medicine physician, and only shoots a handful of weddings each year, but if you’re lucky to hire him you won’t be disappointed. You can view a slide show of his photos of the JPQ and Katrina here.
Thanks also to the staff at Ray’s for taking such good care of us. I had an amazing plate of Gnocchi for dinner!
My Chet Baker Moment
I had the pleasure of working with photographer Michael Riedel at the Waterfront Bridal Show last weekend. He’s an incredible talent not only as a photographer but as a digital retoucher as well, having recently been award a Guru Award from PhotoshopWorld. He was there photographing a model named Veronica for the make-up artist Illusions by Melanie. He ask if he could take some shots of the two of us and I said of course! I felt like Chet Baker in one of those old William Claxton photos. I hope to post more of these beautiful shots soon.
