About the Bales-Gitlin Band

Jay and I met through friends at the Yale School of Music and started this band as a 5-piece group the week after our wedding in 1978. Over the past 28 years, our band family has grown as we have added other musicians. We’ve helped our clients create hundreds of wonderful parties and events using a variety of styles of music. Here are some of the venues we've played over the years. Our repertoire is constantly growing and we are inspired by the many different styles of music we get to play.

All of our band members have been playing since we were kids, most were music majors or went to music schools and several have advanced degrees - we value high-level musicianship. We also love “LIVE” playing. We sound both tight and fresh because we’re both experienced and spontaneous. That’s why we’re the band other musicians hire for their own weddings.

Our flexibility means that we can create the perfect music for your occasion and help you have the party you want. Great dance music, fun rock & roll music, beautiful listening music, sophisticated cocktail music, the biggest selection of ethnic music available in Connecticut, cabaret shows, classical music and jazz - from a solo piano to a full 10-piece band, we can provide musicians and entertainers for all kinds of events.


But our contribution can go beyond providing exceptional music. We work with you on planning and logistical details before your event, and then when you are surrounded by your guests and busy having fun, we make sure things go as planned. One reason we get so much repeat business is that our clients feel comfortable with the ways in which we help the entire event flow smoothly, beyond “just” playing!

Ginny
Ginny Bales

More About Weddings...

 

Authenticity

We know what you’re looking for: a great band that is experienced with social events like weddings, but doesn’t sound like “a wedding band.” Why is it that couples want to avoid that “wedding-band” sound? It’s because a hokey wedding band makes everything sound the same—whether it’s jazz or 80s pop. We never want to be that band.

When we play a classic romantic song like “It Had to Be You,” we know how to make it sound like it did in a Manhattan supper club in 1935. But five minutes later, you might want (as one couple did recently) the German eighties pop song, 99 Red Balloons by Nena. We nailed it with all its synthesized funk, manic double-time energy, and political art-rock sentiments.

We are style-masters—students of the arts of jazz, rock, and pop. We want each song to have the right sound and the right feel—from the retro Latin trumpet solo to the Saturday Night Live soulful sax solo, from the rocking male vocal to the waif-ish alternative female vocal or the smoky ballad. Our musicians and vocalists are masters of their craft. We will never sound canned. If you wanted that, you could use a DJ.

Jay
Jay Gitlin

 

 
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