[Dixielandjazz] Wedding Cocktail Hours

[Steve Barbone]

What we find is that during the cocktail hour, guests at weddings in the USA
usually want to talk, meet new friends etc., and that our full band would be
distracting to their wishes.

So what we do is supply our band within a band trio for the cocktail hour,
playing soft background American Songbook Jazz. (clarinet, bass, guitar)

That enables us to give the client exactly what they want. Background Music,
Dinner Music and Dance Music for anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. Beauty of that
is, of course, the satisfaction of the client, plus even more money for the
band and sidemen. 

We quote a one hour minimum for the cocktail portion, and a 3 hour minimum
for the Dinner/Dance portion. Since the trio is a part of the dinner/dance
band, their 4th hour (1 + 3) is at overtime rates. And if the dinner/dance
band works more than 3 hours, the additional are at overtime rates etc.

We find that Weddings routinely produce anywhere from $300 to $600 per
sideman plus the usual leader fees and sound equipment fees. And often,
depending upon the client/venue, much more.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. The "f...ing amazing" quote came directly from one of the pillars of
Society here in the Philadelphia Main Line/Northern Delaware Old Money area.
I guess the gentleman wanted to relate to jazz musicians. Been like that
ever since the Baroness made the US jazz scene in the 1950s. <grin>