Happy Birthday, Franny!

The streamlined version of the Smokin’ Section (5 pieces) had a blast celebrating Franny’s birthday at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Hackensack.   Franny’s wife Jennifer did a great job putting together this surprise party on very short notice.  We got the call (or should we say e-mail?) about it the Tuesday before it was going to happen.

Franny got her surprise when she walked into the room with Jennifer at about 6:30.  The band broke into Sam Cooke’s “We’re Having A Party” after the guests ushered Franny in with a big “Surprise!!” and hearty applause.

The select gathering of 20 special people enjoyed the fine cuisine at Maggiano’s. Donna (the maitre’d) there ran a smooth party.  The people at the party dug a wide range of music from the band including some Italian favorites such as “Volare”, Sinatra and other tunes from the Classic American Songbook, doo wop and ’50s, Rock n Roll, Soul Music, Funk and Current Dance, too.  The hostess and the guest of honor really got dancing on our version of Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” coupled with “Jump Jive and Wail”.

Jennifer and Franny had been married this past October at Clark’s Landing in Pt Pleasant and the Smokin’ Section reprised their first dance from the big day, Neil Diamond’s “Play Me”.

People got up, dancing and shaking to our medley of Maroon 5′s “Moves Like Jagger”, Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” (G rated version ) and Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back”   We finished our music for the evening with the Louis Prima classic “Buona Sera”.

The band had a great time celebrating with Franny & Jennifer and their guests.  The Smokin’ Section wish them all the best for many more happy and memorable birthdays together and look forward to seeing them again sometime.

Banquet Facility: Maggiano’s Little Italy, Hackensack, NJ 201-221-2030      www.maggianos.com

Lauren & Joey on their big day.... All photos on this page courtesy of Abella Studios

The Smokin’ Section really enjoyed getting a chance to celebrate again with Joey’s family…. we had played his sister Sarah’s wedding reception at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park in June of 2010.

Joey and Lauren had a perfect early Fall day (it felt almost like late Summer) for their wedding reception at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.  The bride and groom danced their first dance to the Ben E King classic “Stand By Me”, as performed by the band.  We then played our version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” for Lauren and her father to dance to, and Joey had his turn with his mom to the Smokin’ Section take on the Beatles’ “In My Life”.

Early on, the guests enjoyed classics from the American Songbook such as “Embraceable You”.  Later on, we turned up the heat with some Classic Rock and Funk.

It had been awhile since we’d had a chance to work with Jesse from Abella Studios and it was fun.

Joey and Lauren’s guests had a great treat later on when his uncle Dave came up and tore the house down, sitting in with the band for two tunes on vocals and violin.  It was climaxed by his famous version of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”.

Devil's Goin' Down To Georgia.... Uncle Dave style

We wish Joey and Lauren all the best and hope to get another chance to see their families soon…. can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday night!

Reception Site:  Mayfair Farms, West Orange, NJ  www.mayfairfarms.com   973-731-4100

Photography:  Abella Studios    www.abellastudios.com    973-575-6633

Sneaking a kiss in the Shadowbrook gazebo....All photos courtesy of Abacus Wedding Studios

For the past several days, predictions had been for thunderstorms for Saturday afternoon’s ceremony time for Zaneta & Chris.  It was slated to take place in the gardens by the Shadowbrook, the landmark wedding reception site in Shrewsbury (in the Central NJ/Jersey Shore area).  When the time finally arrived, the weather was beautiful and sunny… whew!!   Our pianist and trumpeter provided the musical accompaniment and after ceremony concluded, the guests and ZZ & Chris enjoyed cocktail hour in another section of the gardens with music from our pianist as the backdrop.

Mr & Mrs S arrive!!!

The festivities moved inside the Shadowbrook for their reception in the Oak Room.  After the parents and bridal party were introduced, Zaneta and Chris danced their first dance to Luther Vandross’ romantic classic “Always and Forever” performed by us, with their guests joining them on the dance floor midway through.

First dance for Always and Forever

 Zaneta then danced with her father to our version of Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”(from “the Lion King”) then Chris got his turn with mom to our take on Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”.  The best man and maid of honor Milenka each got a chance to do a nice toast after that.

Groomsman Ronnie gets his turn..

Early on, one of the groomsmen Ronnie (who came all the way from Colorado) did a musical interlude which he dedicated to Zaneta and Chris.  The people enjoyed Colbie Caillet’s “Bubbly”, which was a special request we learned for Zaneta and Chris.  The groom loves his Classic Rock and a medley that started with our version of the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” got the guests at the party on the dance floor and rockin’.

The party hit high gear with our version of the Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time/Dirty Bit” and stayed there with the crowd boogie’ing to Lady GaGa, Pink and also some Funk and Soul.

It was a pleasure working with Freddie, the maitre’d at Shadowbrook and his staff again, and it was a blast meeting and working with Michelle from Abacus Wedding Studios (the photographer).

For the final dance of the evening we reprised “Always and Forever”.  Zaneta and Chris won’t be taking their honeymoon in Fiji till September, be we have no doubt that they’ll be enjoying themselves to the max before then.

Banquet Facility: The Shadowbrook, Shrewsbury, NJ   www.shadowbrook.com 732-747-0200

Photographer: Abacus Wedding Studio, South Plainfield, NJ  908-822-1220

The Smokin’ Section returned to Perona Farms, the Sussex County, NJ banquet facility/reception site on a comfortable mid-June day.  We finally got a chance to meet Alyssa & Patrick in person.  They had found us on-line and done all their planning with us long-distance (they reside in Massachusetts).

Perona has a kick*** cocktail hour (one of the best in NJ) and our pianist set the mood for it on the ivories.

For their first dance, the bride and groom selected the Adele re-make of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love”, which was primarily a duet between our lead vocalist Rhonda our and keyboard player Ted.   After that we performed Bruce Springsteen’s “When You Need Me” for Alyssa’s dance with her father (a special request we learned for the party).  Patrick got his chance with his mom to Van Morrison’s “Days Like This”.

We mixed it up from Sinatra and Swing to current club and the dancers kept the floor full.  The couple enjoyed our version of “Silver Springs” (Fleetwood Mac), which was another tune we learned specifically for this party.  The Smokin’ Section version of Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You” was a favorite with the crowd.

It was our first time working with Central Jersey based photographer Todd Laffler and we enjoyed it.

Banquet facility:  Perona Farms, Andover, NJ

Photography:  Todd Laffler Photography

Becky & Andy had originally seen the Smokin’ Section at a showcase almost exactly one year before their wedding date.  The couple selected the Oakeside Mansion, run by Frungillo Caterers and located in Bloomfield, NJ.  The weather cooperated with them on their big day.  First, Andy and Becky had our trumpeter and pianist for their ceremony.  For cocktail hour (which alternated between the gardens and inside of the mansion itself), our pianist set the mood.

Reception moved over to the tent behind the mansion.  For the announcements of the bridal party and parents, Becky and Andy requested that we do the David Byrne/Talking Heads classic “Life During Wartime” (this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around!) and then for their own introduction, we did our quick version of AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells”, also per their request.  These two selections really got the energy of the party pumped up right away.  Andy and Becky danced their first dance to Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are The Best Thing”.  Becky got a chance to dance with her father next to Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter” as done by the band.  The groom then got his shot to dance with his mom to the Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole classic “Unforgettable”.

Andy originally hails from “down under” and many of his family made the trip over from Australia.  Photographer Maggie McGill was there with the couple all day to catch the important moments.  We had spoken with her over the phone before and it was fantastic to finally get the chance to meet and work with Maggie and her staff in person.

The bride and her sister are major league fans of the Grateful Dead and we learned and performed the Dead’s “Birdsong” specially for them.  The band also learned another interesting special request for Andy and Becky, Brian Eno and David Byrne’s “Life Is Long”.

Reception location:  The Oakeside Mansion, Bloomfield, NJ http://www.frungillo.com/frungillo_new/oak/ 973-256-9380

Photographer: Maggie McGill Photography  www.maggiemcgill.com 201-460-0344

On a humid mid-May day, the Smokin’ Section took a roadtrip outside of Philly to the Drexelbrook for Mike and Kristin’s reception.  The groom had seen us at Brian and Kristen’s wedding several years before at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston, NJ.

Mike and Kristin's first dance to music by the Smokin' Section band; All images on this page courtesy of Lorraine Daley Wedding Photography, www.lorrainedaleyweddings.com

Mike and Kristin definitely like swing music, both classic and by the current crop of younger crooners.  For their first dance, they selected Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Something Stupid” which we learned specifically for this night.  It’s a cute early ’60s lounge favorite and the bride and groom looked great out on the dance floor.

After Mike & Kristin finished up, the bride’s father Joe got a chance to do a turn on the dance floor with his daughter to the evergreen “The Way You Look Tonight”.

Mike then danced with his mom to our take on “Bella Notte” by Steve Tyrell (one of the new breed of  younger crooners).  It was also a special request item for this evening.  After a welcome speech from Kristin’s father Joe the dancing got going in earnest and we had a fun, dancing crowd there in Drexel Hill, Pa.

Later on in the party, Mike & Kristin and some of their guests really cut a rug to an uptempo swing medley including “Jump Jive and Wail” and “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” (those two can swing dance!).  The guests and the happy couple also dug the Motown, Classic Rock, Funk and a some current dance tunes as well.

It was the Smokin’ Section’s first time working with the Pennsylvania-based husband and wife team (Lorraine and Greg) of Lorraine Daley Wedding Photography.  We had fun working in tandem with them and they caught some beautiful moments of the couple, their guests and their party, and also got a some great shots of the band.  It was also our pleasure to work along with the maitre’d Bill and his staff at the Drexelbrook.

We got a chance to reprise Brian and Kristen’s first dance at the Crystal Plaza, “It Had To Be You”.  On this evening, they were just about 3 weeks short of their third year anniversary, and we enjoyed catching up on things with them.

For the final dance of the evening, we performed our live version of another request, Sinatra’s “The Last Dance” and it was an apropos way to put a capper on a special day and evening.

Reception Site:  Drexelbrook, Drexel Hill, Pa  www.drexelbrookcatering.com 610-259-7000

Photos:  Lorraine Daley Wedding Photography  www.lorrainedaleyweddings.com 215-735-3296

After a long cold Winter, Spring finally seemed to be peaking through for Lauren and Joey’s big day.  Their ceremony was in Summit and they had sunny  and comfortable weather for their pictures afterward at the Reeves Reed Arboretum.  Lauren & Joey’s cocktail hour and reception took place at the Hyatt Morristown at the Headquarters Plaza, the noted North Jersey hotel and banquet facility/reception site right off the Green in the center of town.

For cocktail hour, Lauren and Joey had our duo of piano and trumpet providing their musical atmosphere.  The reception moved into the main ballroom and during the opening intros of the parents and bridal party, we could tell that the guests were pumped up and ready to party.  The happy couple’s first dance was Bruce Springsteen’s “If I Should Fall Behind”, which our guitarist/vocalist Mikey took the lead on.  After that, Lauren danced with her father to our version of Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl” and then Joey’s turn with his mom was to the Elvis classic “The Wonder of You”.

After a heartfelt toast by the maid of honor (the bride’s cousin), the best man Frank gave a quite unique and entertaining toast. He told several (shall we say?) rather wild and wooly stories of his youth with the groom.  After each story, he asked Lauren whether she still wanted to take Joey as her husband, to which she answered “I do” each time.  Finally at the end of the third story and “I do” from Lauren, Frank said “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife” after which he gave the marriage certificate to Lauren.

The crowd was ready to dance after that, and dance they did throughout the rest of the evening.

There were a bunch of Grateful Dead fans in attendance and they enjoyed the Smokin’ Section versions of “Hey Pocky Way” and “Shakedown Street”.

There were even more fans of the Boss there and they were digging and dancing to “10th Ave Freezout” and “Pink Cadillac” (a special request from Lauren).

The guests also enjoyed Current hits, including our take on Lady GaGa’s “Born This Way”.

It was great working with Monica, the maitre’d Javier and his staff at the Hyatt Morristown again.   We had last worked together with Javier and his capable crew in December at the Hankook Tires corporate holiday party where the Smokin’ Section had supplied both live music and Karaoke.  It was a blast (as usual) for us to work with photographer Michael Distasio (of MK Photographic Artist) and his son Chris, who is a videographer.  Mike D is one of the most entertaining and fun wedding & event photographers in Jersey.  For this party, Mike’s company also supplied a photobooth for the couple and their guests.

The energy built all the way to the end of the party and the crowd was exploding for “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Don’t Stop Believing”.  Lauren, Joey and their guests danced the final dance of the evening to a Tom Waits tune that was made famous by Springsteen, “Jersey Girl”.

Reception Site:  Morristown Hyatt, Morristown, NJ  www.morristown.hyatt.com 973-647-1234

Photographer:  MK Photographic Artist/Michael Distasio, 973-890-9060  www.mkphotographicartist.com

The Smokin’ Section made a visit to Downtown Manhattan on a beautiful, clear and slightly nippy late March afternoon to be a part of Stephanie and Chris’ celebration at the Manhattan Penthouse.

Stephanie and Chris on their big day. All photos on this page courtesy of Victoria Jackson Weddings, www.victoriajacksonweddings.com

Stephanie and Chris had their ceremony in the main room, a hip but  elegant loft-type space affording nice views of downtown NYC from its 17th floor vantage point.  Our keyboardist supplied music for their ceremony and the happy couple walked back down the aisle to “Seasons of Love” (from the musical “Rent”) at the end, which was a special request.  Things adjourned to the cocktail hour room, where our keyboardist Ted got to tickle the ivories on a nice grand piano while the guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

©Victoria Jackson Weddings

For the reception, Stephanie and Chris had their first dance to the Smokin’ Section take on Etta James’ “At Last”.  Stephanie then danced with her father Bob on the Gershwin classic “Embraceable You”.  Chris had his turn with his mom to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World”, sung by our guitarist.

Early on, the crowd really enjoyed our material from the Classic American Popular Songbook (Gershwin, Cole Porter, Sinatra, etc).  Later on things opened up for Classic Rock, Motown and even some current club music.

©Victoria Jackson Weddings

Stephanie and her bridesmaids really got down to our English retro Soul medley of Duffy’s “Mercy” and Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”.  One of the highpoints of the party was when the bride got up and sang with the band…. Stephanie was quite dynamic and she sounded great!

We enjoyed working with photographer Victoria Jackson for the first time.  The Smokin’ Section hadn’t played at the Manhattan Penthouse for awhile and it was a very pleasant experience being back.

©Victoria Jackson Weddings

“Unforgettable” was the final dance of the reception, and the sunlight still streaming in through the windows was a nice backdrop for the end of a beautiful party.

Reception site: Manhattan Penthouse, NY, NY  www.greenmansionscatering.com 212-627-8838

Photos: Victoria Jackson Weddings:  www.victoriajacksonweddings.com 646- 202-1601

The view from the Penthouse ©Victoria Jackson Weddings

All photos on this page courtesy of the Artist Group, www.theartistgroup.com

It was a clear Fall day for the Smokin’ Section’s first visit to Addison Park in Aberdeen, NJ. After arriving at the Central NJ banquet facility/reception site from their ceremony in Bayonne (Kelly’s original hometown), the couple and their guests had cocktail hour in the front room to music from our pianist.

Pump it up!

The couples parents, bridal party and Kelly & Greg themselves were brought into the room to Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”. Greg & Kelly then danced their first dance to our version of the Beatles’ classic from “Rubber Soul”, “Here, There and Everywhere”. After that, Kelly danced with her father to our take on James Taylor’s “Something In The Way She Moves”, followed by Greg and his mom to John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” (a special request we learned for this party along with the first two songs mentioned above.

Early on, the guests really enjoyed a long Sinatra/foxtrot medley and we dedicated “Fly Me To The Moon” to Timmy and Penny Burke, who were celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary.

The pace then picked up for some rockers done by the Smokin’ Section, including a batch of Springsteen and capping with Tom Petty’s “American Girl”.

After entree, the couple and the guests filled the floor to a medley by the band which featured some Beatles including “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, “Get Back” and “I Saw Her Standing There”.

The groom and his guests really dug the funk, so we did “September”, Rick James’ “Give It To Me” and a bunch of other Smokin’ Section funkified favorites.

It was our first visit to this fairly new (5 years old or so) central NJ banquet facility, and the staff and maitre’d Dominick made it a very easy party for us to do. It was also a pleasure working across from the photography and video team from the Jersey shore based The Artist Group.

We ended a rocking party with the final tune of James Brown’s “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”… going with Greg’s taste for the Funk!!!

Banquet facility/reception site Addison Park, Aberdeen, NJ www.theaddisonpark.com 732-566-9660

Photography & video:  The  Artist Group,  www.theartistgroup.com 888-564-1081

All images on this page courtesy of Shine Bright Studios, www.shinebrightstudios.com

The Smokin’ Section had fun at a beautiful beachfront location on the upper Jersey shore, the Sea Bright Beach Club on a perfect August day.  We had played Parker’s sister Stephanie’s wedding almost 2 years before at the Rumson Country Club (see here) and it was really great to see the family again.  At cocktail hour, the guests enjoyed drinks and food out on the deck overlooking the beach and surf while our pianist Ted tinkled the ivories.

After the cocktail hour ended, Parker and Bill danced their first dance to our version of the Ray LaMontagne hit from the summer of ’09, “You Are The Best Thing”, which featured our guitarist/vocalist Mike and the Smokin’ Section horn section.

Parker danced with her father to “The Summer Wind” after that and then Bill had his turn on the floor with his mom on “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”.

It was also a blast to catch up on things with Adam & Laura (and her mom), whose wedding we’d played in June ’09 at the Rumson Country Club Pool house (see here).  It was our pleasure to reprise their first dance (Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”) for them during the evening.

We learned the Fifth Dimension classic from the early ’70s “Wedding Bell Blues” as a special surprise from Parker to her new husband.  (“Won’t you marry me, Bill?”) and their guests got a kick out of it.

We enjoyed working with Avery from Shine Bright Studios, whose photos captured both the joy of Parker & Bill’s big day and the energy on the dance floor.

Some reggae certainly seemed apropos at this amazing indoor/outdoor location, under cover but with the beach and surf clearly visible from our side and the sea breeze coming in to make things comfortable for ourselves and Parker and Bill’s family and friends.

Banquet facility:  Sea Bright Beach Club, Sea Bright, NJ  www.seabrightbc.org 732-842-0245

Photography: Shine Bright Studios, www.shinebrightstudios.com,  732-859-1551