Heart Ball San Antonio - 25th Anniversary Gala

25th Anniversary - Silver Gala - Heart Ball San Antonio

Groove City Band rocks the house !!!!

Friday, May 8, 2009 was the 25th anniversary of Heart Ball in San Antonio, Texas.  This was the first time that Groove City Band was invited to be a part of this celebration.  The Heart Ball is San Antonio's most prestigious charity gala.  It is also the American Heart Association's annual bash, where they can highlight their accomplishments and raise funds for future research to combat heart disease.

This year, Randy Beamer from News 4 WOAI was the Master of Ceremonies.  The evening started out with a silent auction in the foyer of the Grand Hyatt San Antonio Hotel.  Dinner followed, then a live auction.

At $250 per ticket, the American Heart Association did a fabulous job of raising funds for their charity before the evening even started.  The ballroom was packed, with over 300 in attendance.  

After the live auction, it was time to dance!  Groove City did a great job of getting the guests on the dance floor.  We had heard that last year everyone left early, and that they usually did.  Well, this year we were focused on breaking that pattern!  At the end of the night, people did not want to leave!  Everyone was dancing and singing along, requesting songs and having a great time.  Mission accomplished.  After all, you can't call it a ball if there is no dancing!

While we played, our band logo was displayed on two giant screens.  Here is a pic of Jose, keyboard player, band director...... and photographer!  :-)

At the end of the night, we were beat, but it had been a great night indeed.  Here is a shot of the moon behind our Tower of the Americas.  The Grand Hyatt's loading dock has the best view in the city.  ha, ha

The Best San Antonio Band takes FIRST PLACE at the Fiesta River Parade

Groove City Band wins First Place for the Best Band at the

TEXAS CAVALIERS RIVER PARADE

Monday, April 20 Groove City accompanied reality TV star and San Antonio singing sensation, Erica Gonzaba, who was herself crowned Miss Fiesta in 2005.  Erica and Groove City took part in the Texas Cavaliers River Parade, on San Antonio's Riverwalk.  This is the one parade in the country where the floats really do FLOAT!  The parade consists of 48 floats, and each has its own theme and live musical entertainment.  Groove City provided music for the Fiesta Royalty Float, where all the Fiesta queens are!

Groove City with the Fiesta Queens: Miss San Antonio, Miss Fiesta 2009, Queen of Soul, Miss Charro Queen, Paul Croteau (sax), Miss Fiesta 2005 Erica Gonzaba (vocals), Jose Irizarry (keyboard), Ivette Irizarry (percussion/backups), Jonathan De La Garza (drums)

The parade started in the Municipal Auditorium area at about 7:30pm.  Ours was by far the best-looking float.  The formula: take barge, stick smiling beauty queens on top and voila, your float looks great!  The float, sponsored by the Fiesta Commission had the theme TEXAS ROCKS!  It was decorated in yellow, with a big arch with musical notes (you have to hold on to something!) and two giant heads that we are guessing were Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughn.  

As part of the River Parade, there is a contest with two categories: 'Best-looking Float' and 'Best Band'.  On Thursday, April 23 we were notified that the Fiesta Royalty Float won the award for the best band!  

The parade was a huge success for the TEXAS CAVALIERS.  There were over 250,000 people in the audience at the parade.  In all, over $300,000 were raised for 40 local charities.  

Mis Fiesta 2005, singer, Erica Gonzaba

The parade was a lot of fun for us.  People waived and cheered.  They danced and they sang along with us as we floated by.  The spectators pelted us with beads, flowers and cascarones, and we threw things back at them too!

Ivette and Jose having fun

Jose helps Miss San Antonio, Alanna Sarabia onto the barge

Jose with Mark Cavender, our very own Cavalier

Oops! We did it again! -- Allegretto Music voted 2009 Best Of Weddings pick

Allegretto Music is the best choice for wedding music in San Antonio.  For the second year in a row, we are proud to announce that Allegretto Music has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2008/2009 Pick.  Allegretto was voted #1 in two categories: Wedding Ceremony Music (www.allegrettomusic.com) and Wedding Reception Music (www.groovecityband.com).  In the category of reception music we received the highest possible rating of 3 stars, meaning that we go above and beyond for our clients.  

At Allegretto Music, we love what we do!  Each and every bride is so important to us.  Your wedding is a day like no other.  You expect it to have a magical feel, and it is really important for us to be a part of creating that magic.  

We thank God for the blessing of being able to do what we love for a living.  And we especially thank all of our wonderful brides who voted and helped make us #1 again.

When it comes to the music for your Wedding in San Antonio, accept NO IMITATIONS!!

If you have browsed the webpages of live music providers in San Antonio lately, you may have noticed that some of them look suspiciously similar to ours, www.allegrettomusic.com.  That is no accident!!  They say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".  And here at Allegretto Music, we are feeling really flattered lately.  But when it comes to the music for your wedding, accept no imitations.  As with any other service you are seeking for one of the most important days of your life, you want the real deal.  That is Allegretto Music.

Allegretto is the favorite among SA couples - Allegretto Music is the undisputed leader among San Antonio couples for all types of music services related to your wedding celebration.  Our company has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best Of Weddings 2008 Pick.  Allegretto was rated as the best in two categories: ceremony music and reception music.  In the category of ceremony, we were the only vendor preferred among SA couples.  In the reception category, we received the highest possible rating of 3 stars, which means above and beyond.

The other ensembles in San Antonio purchase and play wedding sheet music published by Allegretto Music - Did you know Allegretto Music writes sheet music for weddings that is sold across the US and other countries?  Jose Irizarry, owner and Musical Director, is an accomplished composer and arranger.  His sheet music publications are distributed by the leading retailer of instruments, music and accessories for string musicians: Shar Products Company.  You can browse his titles online at www.sharmusic.com.  Search for "Irizarry".  Most other string ensembles in San Antonio have purchased our sheet music directly from us to play at weddings locally.  In fact, many wedding string ensembles across the US use music published by Allegretto Music.

The musicians that play as part of Allegretto Music ensembles are true professionals -  Our musical director, Jose Irizarry, has a Master's Degree in Violin Performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York City.  Jose studied with renowned violinist, David Nadien, who was concertmaster for the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Leonard Bernstein.  Our musicians are hand picked and have ample experience performing for weddings.  We uphold a very high standard of quality.  All of our artists are devoted to their craft.  Most of our classical musicians also play with the San Antonio Symphony, including owner-director, Jose Irizarry.  Our reception musicians are degreed professionals.

Allegretto Music records all of its own music samples - All of our samples are real live samples of Allegretto Musicians.  You may even hear some clinking china and other background noises.  :-)

So as others try to imitate what we do, Allegretto Music continues to set the standard for wedding entertainment.  Call us or email us about your wedding.  We would love to hear from you!!  

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