La Fonda On Main - Groove City at the wedding of Cappy's little girl

La Fonda On Main - closed on June 21, 2008

On June 21st, the doors of La Fonda on Main were closed to the general public.  Cappy and Susan Lawton were celebrating the wedding of their daughter Avery, to Jamie Moore.  Avery and Jamie were such a fun couple to work with.  They are total freaks for all things Mariachi!  These people know the names of more Mariachi songs than anybody I had ever met.

Avery and Jamie wanted to make sure the music for their reception would be a mix of oldies and American classics that their guests would enjoy, along with some Latin music that would reflect their love and appreciation for the heritage in San Antonio.

The band set up in the patio of La Fonda, and guests started to stream in at 6:30.  They swayed and the cha-cha'd as Groove City played great old school Latin music.  The couple wanted boleros by Luis Miguel, beautiful old Rancheras, and specifically requested Piel Canela.

Then the couple arrived and had their first dance.  Jamie and Avery selected John Hiatt's Have A Little Faith In Me.  The band prepared this song as a custom request for their first dance.

At the end of the night, nobody wanted to leave, but rules are rules, and outdoor music has to be done by 11pm.  This was a fun party, and the couple was thrilled to have all their family and best friends join them in the celebration.

The daughter of restauranteurs, Avery's decor was mostly edible.  Take a look:

Groove City Band 4th of July at Landa Park

Okay, almost 4 months after the fact, here is the recap of our awesome day at Landa Park.  First of all, this is some park!  They have mini golf, paddle boats an olympic swimming pool, and my favorite: the spring fed pool!  We liked it so much we have been back to the park several times after the concert.  Check it out: www.nbtexas.org.

The people at New Braunfels Parks and Rec really do a great job with their Independence Day celebration.  First of all, the concert is organized by Evan Partee pronounced [par-tay].  And does she know how to partay!!!  With a name like that any celebration is guaranteed a success.  Especially if you call the coolest band in San Antonio (that would be us, Groove City) to be your entertainment!!   www.groovecityband.com.

The day was beautiful (and HOT).  Just about when we were going to go on it started to sprinkle, but then it stopped.   That was just to keep us on our toes!  Did I tell you it was HOT?  People had gathered around the stage looking for prime real estate where they could enjoy the concert and then have a great view of the fireworks over the lake.

Paul Croteau, the baddest sax player we've ever known

The band started at 7pm with the tried and true favorite: Celebration, and out come the party people right away.  We played 80s, Motown, Oldies, Country... we threw everything at 'em.  Boot Scootin' Boogie always draws a crowd of expert line dancers "all out making it shake" moving mostly in the same direction (your other left!).

Heel, toe, do-si-do...

Of course, even in the land of Wurstfest, we are still in South Texas.  People of every color (this is such a cool country) were shaking their hips to cumbias by Selena, and hot Shakira songs, La Camisa Negra by Juanes.  And you can't forget the all-time favorite, Elvis Crespo's 'Suavemente'.

Jerry, belting out Springstein

4th of July has to have some hard rockin' tunes, especially Bruce Springstein.  The crowd was singing and rockin' to 'Born In The USA', and the Stones' 'Satisfaction'.  To cap it off, right before 9pm we ended the concert with 'America The Beautiful'...... the lights went out........ and the fireworks were amazing.  Truly my favorite 4th of July yet.

Thanks to all of you who came out to hear us.

Lame Excuses

Okay, so I'm going to use the most tired, sorry, lamest excuse in the book.  We have been too busy to blog.  There!  I said it.  The sad thing is that it is true.  I have lost count of all the wonderful people we've partied with, and all the cool events we've done that we have said: "Aw, this is definitely blog material!"...........  and here we are...... nothing blogged in months.

So, my pledge:  you will see a barrage of entries on this blog in the next 4 to 5 days, so fasten your seatbelts and check back often. 

I LOVE MY JOB!!!!

Ivette

Allegretto goes Country Western in San Antonio

Microsoft and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology recently celebrated the launch of their new "Learning Village" by hosting a Texas style reception at Boudro's "The Vault".  The Vault is located at the corner of Commerce and Presa streets in an impressive space that used to be the lobby of the historic Alamo National Bank.  This venue has a long marble bar that was once the bank teller station, as well as three of the original bank vaults.

Attendees at this reception were visiting San Antonio for the National Educational Computing Conference, and most had never been to Texas.  For entertainment, the company wanted a Texas-themed ensemble that could play real down-home Texas country music.  With the backdrop of a saloon-looking red-draped stage, Allegretto Music (www.allegrettomusic.com)  provided a trio of guitar, acoustic bass and fiddle.  It felt great to represent our city and the music of Texas at this event.

"It felt like being on a John Wayne movie set" says Jose, playing fiddle that night.  "The bank vaults were open, and the bartenders were serving drinks through the teller stations.  People had a blast."  Peter Carey entertained guests playing guitar and singing favorite country tunes like Amarillo By Morning, I Fall To Pieces and many more.  Greg Norris on the big acoustic bass provided the foundation, while Jose Irizarry playing fiddle gave the music just the right Texas twang.

San Antonio's Groove City Band - 4th of July Concert - Landa Park in New Braunfels

San Antonio's best live variety band, Groove City  (www.groovecityband.com), will be the featured artist at the upcoming 4th of July Celebration presented by the New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Department.

The celebration will be held at the picnic grounds of Landa Park, which offers lots of fun things to do, from Miniature Golf, to Tubing.  The concert begins at 7:00pm and will feature lots of your favorite Top 40 songs, so you can shake your groove thang, from Oldies, to Country, and Latin.  Shortly after 9:00pm there will be a fireworks display.  Bring your picnic, your coolers and your favorite people to enjoy great music and outdoor fun.  The concert is free of charge.  Only regular park fees apply.

More information about the event can be found online at www.nbtexas.org.

Hope to see you there!

Groove City Open Session

All photos by Ryan Salinas of Reve Weddings

Sunday, February 24th, Groove City had its first open session of 2008.  The band got together to rehearse new material they are adding to their repertoire this year, as well as special requests made by clients for whom they are performing in the next few months.  At 5:30pm, when the rehearsal ended, couples were invited to listen to the band to and decide if Groove City was the right fit for their reception.  

Six couples attended the session.  Groove City made a presentation, performing 10 song excerpts for the guests.  The first half of the presentation was in English, including oldies, disco, rock, country and motown.  The second half was a mix of Latin music, as many of our couples were looking to include those genres for their families and friends.  Salsa, merengue, cumbias, boleros and even reggaeton.

After the presentation was over, each of the couples got to spend some time talking to the band asking questions about their particular reception, and their music needs.  Four of the couples decided Groove City is the band for them!  We are so excited to have been invited to be a part of their wedding.

Our friend Ryan Salinas took these beautiful pictures.  Thanks, Ryan for coming to our party!  Ryan is the owner of Reve Weddings and one of the most talented wedding designers I know (and I must say, pretty good behind a camera!).  He has created many a fairy tale wedding.  Check out his designs online.

Zion Jazz on KRTU 91.7FM - Tuesday, Feb 19, 9:00pm

Zion Jazz/Allegretto Music violinist Jose Irizarry was invited Tuesday, Feb 19, to join the Jazz Protagonists on their weekly radio show: Protagonists Jazz Party.  This time it was a birthday party for late jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.  The show aired Tuesday night at 9:00pm on KRTU 91.7 FM.

You can hear the show here in the KRTU audio archives.  Click on the Jazz Protagonists link.

Happy 100th Birthday, Stephane!!

The Beatles Rock!!

All photos by Goen South Photography

WOW!  I love this picture by Morris Goen.  This is the courtyard at the Hotel Valencia.  It is a truly striking setting, especially if you are having a more intimate wedding.  By the way, the fountain is gorgeous, and combines the elements of water and fire.  Just, wow!  This wedding was designed by Carey Millington at Goen South Wedding Consulting.  She did such a wonderful job.

"I want the quartet to play Beatles music."

Now, why is this wedding a highlight?  Well, Mackey Ward hired a String Quartet from Allegretto Music.  No sweat, just another day in the office, right?  A few weeks later she calls and says: "Okay, I want to have exclusively Beatles music played for my wedding."  And it had to be specifically a group of songs that she and her fiance, Will, absolutely loved.  Well, needless to say that the quartet-specific sheet music for these songs wasn't part of our trusty wedding music collection, or anybody else's, for that matter.  

GASP!?  Not really.  It's a good thing Mackey hired us.  We are the only music company in San Antonio that will special-write music for your celebration, even if it's not what people would consider "wedding music".  We've written everything from Luther Vandross to Foo Fighters.  

The String Quartet played In My Life for the wedding party entrance, and Mackey walked down the aisle to a classical piece by Rachmaninoff, the only non-Beatle selection.  Mackey and Will selected Some Things for their special music during the ceremony, and they marched out as husband and wife to All You Need Is Love.  Even the prelude music was hand-picked, special-written, Beatles songs that Will and Mackey love:  Don't Let Me Down, And I Love Her, Here There Everywhere, Girl, If I Fell and others.

The KENS 5 Connection - Vanessa Macias and Bob Ballou

All photos by Goen South Photography

Okay, I'll admit there is a kissing-in-front-of-the-Alamo theme going on here.  But no other city, short of Paris, has such a cool backdrop for a wedding picture, smack in the middle of where everything happens!

On September 8, 2007, Bob Ballou, KENS 5 Sportscaster married San Antonio beauty, Vanessa Macias.  Vanessa used to co-host the KENS 5 morning show: Great Day SA some time ago.  Their ceremony was held at the Basilica National Shrine of The Little Flower.  This church is gigantic and really beautiful.  It also has killer acoustics.  Bob and Vanessa had a String Trio from Allegretto Music perform for the ceremony.

Zion Jazz at the Witte Museum

Allegretto's own Zion Jazz to play for the special opening event of the newest exhibit at the Witte Museum.  Zion Jazz will provide the entertainment at a party hosted by the Museum for its members.  The Witte is giving its members a private preview of the new exhibit which features real, preserved human bodies wearing a lot less skin than any of us have ever seen!  Yikes!

Visit the museum's website for more information.  This exhibit looks truly unique.  www.wittemuseum.org.

Laura and Jonathan - May 18, 2007

All photos by Kym Skiles - f8studio.com

Okay!  It took me a few days, but I'm new to this blogging thing.  This is the first of a series of posts of the highlights of our 2007 year.  

May 18th Laura Blackburn married her prince charming.  Laura had a Harp Quartet (2 violins, harp and cello) for her ceremony, then Groove City rocked her reception. 

Laura and Jonathan come from Christian families and they really wanted to focus their ceremony to be a service where everyone could thank God for bringing them together.  We special-wrote several Christian pieces for her ceremony, including: 'Agnus Dei' by Michael W. Smith.

You can see more pictures of Jonathan and Laura's wedding at the aptly titled website:  www.jonathanloveslaura.com.  Kym Skiles of f8studio did a FABULOUS job of photographing this wedding.  

Wow! What a year!!!

2007 was an amazing year here at Allegretto Music.  We want to thank all the beautiful couples who invited us to be a part of their wedding.  We are so blessed to be able to do what we love for a living.  

Stay tuned.  We'll be posting some highlights of our 2007 weddings in the next few days!