Live Corporate Event Entertainment, Bands & Music

When it comes to great performances, phrasing is everything. It's what makes Tony Bennett so delightful, and Frank Sinatra had it in spades. So did Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and others from their generation, mostly gone now.

And when you hire a band to perform live music as your corporate event entertainment, you want a great performance, right?

But how can there be phrasing, and a really great LIVE performance, when the band, singers, horn players and even the drummer are performing with pre-recorded "tracks," lip-synching and playing along with a record as so many corporate event bands do today?

The following excerpt from a note I received this morning is an insightful perspective on this phenomenon:

Dear Judy,

We spoke earlier on the phone today. I just wanted to say again how nice it was to talk to somebody in the music business in this town that wasn't immediately dismissive to a newly-arrived musician looking for opportunities. Kindness and compassion seem to be a rare commodity in this town from time to time, so thank you again.

As for the issue of "tracking" in performances here, I have to say I am pretty surprised that music has...

The Music of George Gerswin, Irving Berlin & Kermit the Frog!

It's my fantasy, a one-woman show (accompanied by piano and upright bass, of course):

"Judy Chamberlain sings the hits of George Gerswin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin & Kermit the Frog"

Hmmm...and maybe Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren & Kurt Weill.

Yes, definitely.

Actually performing this music is...

Cole Porter in Hollywood: What A Swell Party It Was

Cole Porter, the musical toast of Peru Indiana, Paris and New York City, also had a profound effect on Hollywood and the movies.

Like his peers Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart and Richart Rogers, his songs brought Broadway and Hollywood together...

Corporate Event Entertainment with Vintage Live Music

I love the old adage, "say it with music!"

It's the title of a song, and a lovely thought.

How many times have we wanted to express an emotion or feeling but were at a loss for words?

Music reaches the deepest places in our hearts.

Vintage music, especially,...

Corporate Event Bands with Rat Pack Spontaneity

Frank Sinatra, the ultimate corporate event band entertainer who turned large amphitheaters into intimate settings, would not be amused by today's trend toward viral media. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, eek! Handy for looking things up, but a royal pain in the ass when it comes to...

Diary of a Los Angeles Jazz Singer. Words and Music

A group of composers were sitting around a few years ago planning a birthday party for one of their peers.

"Call Judy Chamberlain," someone said. "She's the only singer in Los Angeles who sings the songs right."

Words...and music, the way the composers wrote them. Swinging jazz.

These...

Los Angeles Wedding Entertainment: Modern Vintage Music for Weddings & Events

Modern vintage music is a glamorous, stylish backdrop for sophisticated weddings and events.

Especially when it's MODERN vintage music, played with originality and improvisational showmanship by a live band that specializes in weddings and events ...and plays an enormous repertoire taht spans every style and decade...

Los Angeles Wedding Bands: Loud Is Not Better!

It's live, it's great...and you can talk over it...The Diary of a Los Angeles wedding band continues...

At the high end of sophistication, nobody wants to have their conversation drowned out by a band that thinks it's the main event...at a rock concert! Live wedding entertainment...

Los Angeles Wedding Bands, Musicians Diary: Destination Moon!

The Guests Danced Before They Sat Down For Dinner!

I recently had a terrific time collaborating on a first dance with a dance instructor in Tucson and a lovely couple whose wedding took place in late December in Arizona. There wasn't a lot of time for...

Los Angeles Wedding Musicians: The Great American Songbook

We never play anything the same way once!

That's a joke, ok?

But being something of an "original," the standards we play are not at all in the "cover band" category.

To us, happiness is no longer having to apologize for not being a "Top 40" band. Evidently,...