Inspired Emotions Blog

More on the Blend...

After all this time (and all these Blends), I still get asked about what a Blend is exactly.  As I’ve said before, it is pretty much whatever you want or need it to be. Do you like jazz, but want to rock out after dinner?  What about world music piped in alternating with a flamenco group with dancers?   Perhaps you want a DJ spinning while a percussionist is jamming to beats/tracks?  These and many more scenarios are available to you. 

In short, a blend can be this.

Or this.

And everything in between.

The ideal logistical scenario is for a Blend to have a DJ that can also do sound for the live portion.  Why?  First of all, it reduces the footprint of the equipment in whatever space you happen to be in.  It looks cleaner and less cluttered.  Second of all, it will sound better.  Musicians that work for us generally carry state of the art equipment, but no musician can ever sound as good as when he or she has a sound tech running sound while they are playing.

Now, if you have a more sedate vision of a cocktail type reception or party, a Blend could be more live component heavy entity.  The sets in such a Blend would lean more towards the band or instrumentalist.  If you preferred a heavier dance set, then perhaps it would go in that direction more and more as the evening went on. 

To be fair, this is not easily pulled off.  This type of gig requires a good amount of planning between client, caterer/planner/coordinator, DJ/sound tech, and musician(s).  It also requires a good deal of flexibility the night of the special event.  What if people are dancing more than expected?  Both the DJ and the musician(s) need to be on the same page and realize they are playing for the same team.  Egos are to be set aside for the ultimate goal of a successful party that not only pleases the clients, but their guests.   

It is always such a pleasure to go into the Phoenixville Foundry for any reason, but especially when it is to have the opportunity to work with some of the best in the industry.  Bob Tomasso runs a wonderful and beautiful space that is a feast for the eyes to see.  J. Scott is one of the region’s premiere caterers.  Paul Evans is a great DJ and Silver Sound is tops in my book.  By the way, we at BVT, specifically the Inspired Emotions Division, held up our end by bringing in some of the best talent on our roster.

We basically did a live Blend by trading sets with Paul Evans for the duration of the four hour show. 

Our first set featured Nora Whittaker.  For those of you who don’t know, Nora can do anything from light classical to standards to her own takes on the great pop and rock tunes of the last 40 years.  Her set featured her on songs like At Last, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I’m Yours, and Beautiful Day.  Her voice and piano playing sounded great in that setting.

BVT pianist, Nora Whittaker

Following her was Paul Sottile Jr.,  Paul is an in demand pianist that has a busy recording and performing career.  Paul did a range of popular standards that included beautiful standards such as Sophisticated Lady and more contemporary fare such as New York State of Mind.

BVT Jazz pianist, Paul Sottile Jr.

Right after Paul, we had a rising star in the jazz world, Mike Lorenz.  Mike recently released his first cd as a leader, The Woods.  He is an accomplished composer and guitarist.  On this day, he played classical pieces such as Celebrated Aire and Canon In “D.”  His takes on standards such as My Funny Valentine and Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? were memorably beautiful.  He also mixed in The Beatles’ Blackbird and some Jackson Browne.

BVT Guitarist, Mike Lorenz

Last and not least, we had the excellent and wonderfully versatile Jason Long.  Jason is not only and excellent pianist, but an accomplished bassist.  You can find Jason in some of the best clubs and restaurants playing solo and in various ensembles as a pianist and then turn around to find him playing bass in a party/cover band.  This particular day he was playing piano on tunes as diverse as Private Eyes, She’s Got A Way, The Summer Wind, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.  As a side note, Jason recently did a wedding ceremony at Normandy Farms with Pete Smyser, premiere jazz/classical guitarist that featured exclusively songs such as Wonderful Tonight, Here, There, and Everywhere, and Your Song.  They had never worked together before that day and had so much fun preparing for the gig that they intend to do more together.

The day was a success and a pleasure to be a part of.

Blends and Odds and Ends

The Blend has become one of BVT’s and Inspired Emotions most popular offerings.  The ability to have multiple pieces moving and working together to show different aspects of a couple’s tastes and visions for their special day is quite appealing to a great many people.  Here are a few that we have done…

On June 4th at Winterthur, we sent out The Christopher Bohn Gypsy Jazz Ensemble and our wonderfully diverse DJ Bob Balan for Bennett Grizzard and Barrett Thornton’s wedding reception.  Christopher and Bob have worked together before and that is always helpful.  Christopher’s group had two guitars, acoustic bass, and violinist Monique Canniere.  They wanted gyspy jazz/swing for their cocktail hour and they got what they wanted in spades.  For Bob, he had to mix obscure 70’s and 80’s rock, alternative, and new wave with dance mixes.  Not an easy task for any DJ especially with an eye for keeping the folks up on the floor.  Bennett said that “a really wonderful time was had by all. Thank you and your collaborators for lending their talents and all of their help. We feel very fortunate to be able to carry the memories of such a great weekend on with us. “  That’s music to our ears.

Anna Resek and Gabriel Chung chose Memorial Day weekend to get married at Aldie Mansion in Doylestown.  Aldie is a venue that is perfect for The Blend.  Three moving parts were on board to man this ship.  For the ceremony, Beth Dzwil, one our wonderful vioinists, and John Arnold, and exceptional classical guitarist, played a prelude, ceremony, and postlude of just the most beautiful classical selections.  As the happy couple and their guests left that area, they were greeted by The Larry McKenna Quartet (Larry plays sax like Stan Getz, only better) playing standards and cool jazz for the cocktail hour.  For a half hour, Bob Balan spun tunes in that vein as the musicians moved into the dining area.  They started again and played romantic jazz throughout dinner.  Bob finished up the rest of the evening by getting the people up to dance.  I checked in with Anna to see how things had gone, and she said, “Thanks Lou. The wedding went wonderfully and everyone loved the music!”

Now for some odds and ends…

Stephen STARR Events is one of our favorite companies to collaborate with.  They have such unique events and allow us to really customize to fit their client’s taste.  On March 12th, Scott Barnes presented one of our excellent classical musicians at the Villa Colina (a private residence owned by a renowned local banker) for a private party.  Charlene Angelini played nothing but Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Brahms came to life over the four hours that she played for the hosts and guests.  As you would expect, the food and the music provided the perfect ambience for an evening enjoyed by friends in a beautiful setting.

Ceremonies Designed for You…

Hello from the Inspired Emotions Division at BVT…I know, I know, long time, no read, but we have been tremendously busy.  Because of that we are going to highlight a few different ceremonies that were customized for special days.

Two of our wonderful individual artists on the Inspired Emotions roster were paired for Laura Krakosky’s special day.  Leah Schade, an extraordinary harpist, and Beth Dzwil, a great violinist, were paired for a Catholic wedding mass at St. Isidore’s  in Quakertown.  They mixed classical with liturgically correct hymns in addition to working with cantors from the church.  Laura said, “Leah and Beth did an amazing job! The wedding music was perfect!  Please feel free to use me as a referral, both you and Leah helped me out so much and I would definitely recommend your services going forward."

At The Mendenhall Inn on June 10th, Melissa Faughnan and Geoff Cope were tying the knot.  For their reception, they had a great BVT dance band, Midnight Hour.  They wanted something elegant and almost exclusively classical.  I myself played this wedding personally with my father, Louis Lanza, Jr., longtime member of The Philadelphia Orchestra violin section.  The pieces ranged from the Meditation from Thais to Bach’s Celebrated Aire to the Schubert Ave Maria.  Among the contemporary pieces mixed in were Vangelis’ Hymn, The Prayer, and The O’Neill Brothers’ Canon in F.  Pat Faughnan, the mother of the bride, said that we did a “ lovely job, & sounded wonderful!  I wish I could throw a party like that every couple of years.....one never knows!”

On July 2nd at The Paoli Baptist Church, a Group Therapy  client named Gail Conner  was sending her daughter off to be married.  They had specific tastes and requests.  One was multiple strings with piano mixed in.  The other was everything from classical to traditional Baptist hymns to contemporary secular music.  Beth Dzwil and her trio fit the bill.  The instrumentation was two violins and piano.  In addition to requesting atypical repertoire, they also had to incorporate the bride’s uncle for a few songs.  They were able to seamlessly work him in as well pieces like Simple Gifts from Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, the Patty Griffin contemporary Christian piece Heavenly Day, and U2’s Beautiful Day.  Not a typical ceremony, but it all turned out beautifully!!!

There are many more coming up, so till next time, so long for now…