I had the pleasure of playing with Darrius Willrich on piano and Evan Flory-Barnes on bass. Evan is the regular bassist in my Quartet and it’s always a treat to play with him. I’ve known Darrius for years and we’ve played together a bunch, but it had been a while. He’s an incredible piano player and the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. I was glad to have the chance to spend the evening with him. This is one smokin’ trio, if I do say so myself!

Anna and Alfredo came to our recent show at Tula’s and told me that they just wanted us to be ourselves and do what we do, which is always nice to hear. They did have a few requests, however, which turned out to be great ones! For their recessional, for instance, they had us play “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. It’s always a challenge to take a well-know song from outside the jazz genre and do it justice. But it’s a challenge I love! And that song is so simple yet so beautiful that all we really had to do was play it straight and it worked out great. The bigger challenge was learning Jim Croce’s “Time In a Bottle”. Of course I’ve heard this song countless times, but I never paid too much attention to it until Anna asked if this could be their first dance. I take first dances very seriously, and wanted to create an arrangement that would be remembered by all in attendance. It took me a while, but the response was incredible, and I think we will add this song to our regular repertoire!

Top of the Market is a gorgeous place to have a wedding, with stunning views of Puget Sound. The staff took great care of us and was very complimentary about our music. The bartender told me she was thrilled to have such a great live band and not another cheesy DJ!

Thanks to Anna & Alfredo for including us in their big day.

Kathryn Krogstad was the photographer for the wedding and some of her beautiful shots: