Jellyroll had a busy weekend October 23rd through 25th with an event each day. On Friday evening, Jellyroll performed at the wedding reception of Doreen Donnelly and Mike Korba. This was a particularly special wedding, as Doreen is a good friend to members of Jellyroll and BVT. Doreen is an event planner for MEDecision and Jellyroll has played at many of the corporate events she has planned.
The reception was held at the Ballroom at the Ben where Ott Ricci, the maitre d’, put together a wonderful event. Photos were taken by Faith West Photography and the beautiful floral displays were put together by Jim at Ring of Roses. Doreen and Mike shared there first dance together as a married couple to Shania Twain’s “From This Moment On”. Parent dances included “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts and “I Hope You Dance” by Leanne Womack. The bride also requested the band play “Single Ladies” by Beyonce. This is a fun song that everyone really enjoyed, especially the women in attendance.
On Saturday, Jellyroll performed at Sarah Lustgarten’s Bat Mitzvah at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. Jellyroll is proud of their long association as a preferred entertainment partner with Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. The beautiful decor was provided by Party Productions. Daniel Briones, and maitre d’, Rick, also worked to ensure success at the Four Seasons.
Jellyroll worked together with Emcee Paul from EJ the DJ at this event. A highlight of the evening was when Paul and an array of dancers carried Sarah into the room on their shoulders for her grand entrance. At this point, Sarah performed a song which she wrote, “Candy Store”, as Jellyroll accompanied her. Band members and guests were both in awe of the talent of this young girl. Dancing ensued throughout the night as adults and kids, alike, filled the dance floor!
The weekend ended on Sunday when Jellyroll performed at the wedding of Randi Sosnow and Brad Brack. This lovely couple had their wedding reception at Spring Mill Country Club. Barnet Paul of Hy Paul Studio provided the videography and photography for the event. Floral arrangements were provided by Dominic Graziano Flowers and Gifts.
Randi and Brad had a beautiful outside ceremony, which Jellyroll provided the music for. Following the ceremony, guests moved inside for cocktails, dinner, and of course, dancing. The couple’s first dance together was “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Jellyroll learned this special song just for them. Other special songs of the evening were “In My Life” by The Beatles which was dedicated to Randi’s father, grandmother and grandfather. “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride was a special request from Randi’s mom. There was also a traditional Jewish Horah and Crowning at this wedding.
WOW! As many may know, Jellyroll has been hard at work preparing and polishing as show that presents the amazing music that has come from our hometown of Philadelphia. Last night, on November 8, 2009, all of the hard work paid off. Jellyroll performed for over 4,000 American Public Health Association conference attendees in a theater style event, at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The show was incredibly well received, so much so that, at one point, hundreds of attendees lined the aisles dancing to Jellyroll’s rendition of the O’Jays’ “Love Train”. Jellyroll lead singer expressed it perfectly, “We started a concert and a major party broke out”! We look forward to many more performances of this show as we act as embassadors of the Philly music scene. Here are a couple photos of the event:
Jellyroll at the Philadelphia Convention Center
View from the stage at Jellyroll's APHA Philadelphia concert
Natalie Sorkin, Meetings and Scientific Session Coordinator for the American Public Health Association, had these kind words to say about Jellyroll:
“Thank you for the great performance during our Annual Meeting. It was a fun show with songs that everyone could dance to. We certainly enjoyed watching our Executive Director and the new Surgeon General participating in the Congo Line. We had a great turn out this year and I heard positive feedback all the next day. Thank you for being easy to work with and creatin a great show. Have a happy holiday season to you and the entire band!”
So maybe it wasn’t a Kevin Costner movie, but this past weekend the Midnight Hour Band enjoyed our own version of “Dances with Wolves”, as we enjoyed an evening of “Dances with Foxes” – specifically, newlyweds Jennifer and Eric Fox, the nicest Foxes you’ll ever meet. They and their family and friends gathered to celebrate their wedding day at The Mendenhall Inn in Mendenhall, PA.
Jennifer and Eric were truly a joy to meet. They each put a lot of effort into working with the band to ensure we delivered the kind of music they envisioned for their reception. I will never forget one of Eric’s great lines when he summarized what was important to him; “Shavin, let there be no disco masquerading as funk”. You gotta love any guy who comes up with a line like that.
We learned a few great songs for them; “Lovin’ Cup” by The Rolling Stones (if you never heard it, go listen to it, off the Stones Exile on Main Street album), “Feelin’ All Right” by Joe Cocker, “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young, and “Not Fade Away” by The Grateful Dead. What a great set of requests! This stuff is right up our alley, and we loved doing each of these songs for them. I was so excited that I even went out and purchased a percussion instrument called a Vibra Slap to get that cool percussion sound you hear in the opening of that Joe Cocker song. Closing the night with “Harvest Moon” was a lot of fun for the band, especially our guitarist “Rooster”, who is a huge Neil Young fan and got to play one of his many acoustic guitars on that one.
For us, it was the second week in a row at The Mendenhall Inn, and we’re actually back there again next week … so it’s a Three Week Stand at The Mendenhall for us! We want to thank Rigo, the Maitre De at The Mendenhall Inn, who does a fantastic job each and every time we’re lucky enough to work with him.