Standards for cocktails and dinner
Jazz duo and trio for hire, for weddings and for events.
Guests walk in to Autumn Leaves on upright bass and guitar, pick up a drink, and talk across it all evening. The jazz duo plays standards at a volume your guests can talk across, for a single hour or for cocktails and dinner together, and the trio adds drums played with brushes for a bigger crowd.
Couples book it for the ceremony and the cocktail hour, and companies book it for client dinners and receptions. Jazz standards are the song list because guests recognize them without needing to name them.
Trusted and booked by
Sizes
The duo, or the trio with brushes.
- The duo
- Upright bass and guitar, for cocktails and dinner together or a single hour on its own. It fits in a corner, so it plays venues a band can’t.
- The trio
- The duo plus drums, played with brushes. Brushes keep the drums at dinner level and give a bigger crowd the pulse a two-piece can’t.
“[He] was fantastic, he struck the right note (pardon the pun) with our guests by not only playing beautifully, but also by playing quietly in the background so as not to disturb the conversation of our guests. Everyone loved him and would 100% hire him again. He is a tru pro!”
For a night that ends on a dance floor, Tejas Singh can start as a duo and grow to a quartet. Changes Jazz Trio plays the standards with a modern edge.
Occasions
Who books a jazz duo or trio.
- Client dinners and member events
- Dinners where the conversation is the event, and the duo plays under it all night.
- Company evenings with a program
- Dinner around remarks and awards, with the music stopping for the speeches and starting again after them. Find out more on the corporate jazz band page.
- Wedding cocktail hours
- The hour between the ceremony and dinner, and the ceremony itself if you want it. For jazz from the processional to the last dance, check out the jazz band for a wedding.
- Dinner parties at home or at a club
- A duo fits a house or a club without moving the furniture, in Denver or anywhere on the Front Range.
- Senior living
- The standards the residents grew up with, played in the common area on a standing weekday afternoon.
- Sunday brunch
- The duo under a restaurant’s or a hotel’s Sunday brunch, from the first table to the last.
- Memorial receptions
- The reception or the celebration of life after a service, with the songs the family chooses.
The acoustic duo is the same size playing singer-songwriter and folk-rock covers, and in December the same trio plays the season’s songs as the Christmas jazz trio. For prices, check out what a jazz band costs in Denver.
A sample of the set
Standards from the jazz book. Requests are welcome.
- Autumn Leaves
- All the Things You Are
- There Will Never Be Another You
- Take the A Train
- Blue Bossa
- Beautiful Love
- Someday My Prince Will Come
- The Girl from Ipanema
- All of Me
- Green Dolphin Street
Jazz duo and trio questions
Stage sizes and power are on the technical page, and more of the song list is on the repertoire page. Curious about the instruments? Check out jazz band instruments and what is a jazz trio.
- What is a jazz trio?
- Three musicians. The traditional combos are piano, bass and drums, or organ, guitar and drums. The one we usually send to a private event is guitar, upright bass and drums played with brushes, because brushes let the drums sit under a conversation. A quartet is the same three with a horn or a voice added. Signet Artists books jazz duos and trios across Denver and the Colorado mountains.
- Can we hire a jazz trio for a wedding?
- Yes, and it's usually hired for the ceremony and the cocktail hour. The trio plays a processional and a recessional as readily as it plays standards, and the same booking carries straight through dinner.
- Is a jazz duo enough for a dinner of sixty guests?
- Yes. The duo plays at about the level of the conversation at the table, so guests can talk across it without raising their voices. For a bigger guest list, or when the guests are spread across a big space, the trio is the size to book.
- Can one booking cover cocktails and dinner?
- Yes, and that's the most common booking. The duo covers arrival, cocktails and dinner, with sound support included and music through the breaks. A single hour on its own works well too. If you want a song that isn't on the list, let us know when you book (we usually need a few weeks to learn new material).
- How much space and power does it need?
- The duo sets up in a corner of about 8 by 6 feet on one dedicated circuit. The trio plays fine on the floor in about 12 by 8 feet, still on one dedicated 20-amp circuit, with about an hour to set up. If you want a riser, the venue or your production company provides it.
Send us the date, and we'll bring the jazz duo for cocktails and dinner.
Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.