Wedding & gala band · New York & the Hamptons
Ten pieces.
One long night.
A black-tie band of six, ten or fourteen, led by Lionel Banks. From the ceremony strings to the last dance, since 2011.
Choose your bandCeremony to last dance · 2027
Hold your date- 600+weddings & galas
- 2011playing since
- 14musicians on call
- 0quiet minutes
The band
As large as the room.
Choose a line-up and watch it take the stage.
The dance floor
Six-piece$11,500
The core of the band: two lead singers, a rhythm section that has played together for a decade, and a playlist for the breaks.
Ten-piece$16,800
The six with trumpet, saxophone and trombone, and our own DJ between sets, so the floor never goes quiet. What most couples choose.
Fourteen$23,400
The ten, plus a string quartet that plays your ceremony and cocktails, then joins the band for the first dance.
The programme
An evening in five acts.
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I5:30
The ceremony
The string quartet plays you down the aisle, in a garden in Bridgehampton or a ballroom on the Upper East Side. Your processional, arranged for strings.
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II6:00
Cocktails
A trio of piano, bass and guitar on the terrace. Standards, bossa nova and a few songs your guests will half recognize.
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III7:15
Dinner
A jazz quartet with Celia, brushes on the snare, at a volume that leaves room for the toasts. The full band waits behind the curtain.
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IV8:45
The dancing
Three sets of forty-five minutes from all ten, with our DJ in between so the floor never cools. Motown, disco, the ’80s and last summer.
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V11:45
The last dance
One slow song for the two of you, then one more, loud, for everyone. The horns walk you out.
Repertoire
Four hundred songs, and yours.
We play what fills a floor at a black-tie wedding, and we learn your first dance, your parents’ song and the hora, arranged for the band you choose.
The showreelFour minutes from three nights, filmed from the floor.
- 01The standards
Ballroom swing, the crooners, the songs your grandparents danced to
- 02Motown & soul
The Detroit sound, Memphis horns, the girl groups
- 03Disco & the ’80s
Four-on-the-floor, the big synths, the songs everyone knows every word to
- 04Now
Last summer’s hits, arranged for horns. We add new songs every month.
The bandleader
Lionel Banks.
My father played the organ at a church in St. Albans, Queens, every Sunday for forty years. I sat on the bench beside him until I was nine and he put a trumpet in my hands to get his elbow room back.
I spent twelve years in Broadway pits, eight shows a week, which teaches you two things: never miss a cue, and the audience should never see you work. In the summer of 2011 my show went dark, a friend’s wedding band fell through, and I called eight people I trusted. We’ve played every Saturday since.
Three rules haven’t changed. We dress like your guests. The music never stops, not for breaks, not for speeches. And our singers learn the names of everyone in your wedding party.
Lionel
- Lionel BanksBandleader, trumpet
- Celia MoreauLead vocals
- Andre VanceLead vocals
- Tomás ReyesSaxophone
- Ruth AshbyKeys & musical director
- Kenji HallDrums
Nights
Lately, after dark.
A gala in MidtownNovember · the ten-piece
A tent in SagaponackAugust · fourteen
Celia, 11:40 pmA ballroom on Fifth Avenue
Ceremony stringsMontauk, September
A rooftop in ChelseaJune · the six-piece
The hornsBridgehampton, July
The last danceUpper East Side, December
In their words
“They played the hora, a Motown medley and our first dance in the same hour, and the floor never thinned.”
Rachel & BenMarried in Water Mill“I have booked them for eleven events. Lionel answers before I finish the question.”
Marguerite EllisonEvent planner, Manhattan“Our first dance was a song nobody plays. They arranged it for strings and horns. My father still hums it.”
Daniela & JaeMarried on the Upper East Side
“The band New York planners whisper about.” The East End Ledger
Where
Manhattan to Montauk.
Ballrooms, museums and rooftops in the city; tents, gardens and beach clubs on the East End and the North Fork. Travel within New York City and Long Island is included.
Connecticut, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley are a quote.
Questions
Before you enquire.
How do I hold our date?
Choose your date below and pay the $3,000 deposit. The date is yours from then on. Half the balance is due ninety days before, the rest a week before.
Will you learn our first dance?
Yes, with eight weeks’ notice and at no charge. Ruth arranges it for the band you’ve chosen, and we send you a rehearsal recording.
How loud is it?
As loud as the room wants, and no louder. We play to the back of the room at dinner, and to the dance floor after. Venues with sound limits are no trouble.
Do you take breaks?
Three short ones in a long night, and our DJ plays through every one, so the music never stops.
What do you need from the venue?
A stage or floor space of about 24 by 12 feet for the ten-piece, two circuits of power, a room to change, and meals for the band. We send a full rider when you book.
Do you travel?
Manhattan to Montauk is included, North Fork too. Connecticut, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley are a quote, and we have played as far as Palm Beach.
Enquire
Hold your date with $3,000.
Most Saturdays from May to October go eighteen months ahead, and December galas a year. Choose yours and Lionel will text you within the day.
- Within a weekThe contract, the rider and a stage plot for your venue
- Eight weeks outA call with Lionel and Ruth: your first dance, the hora, the do-not-plays
- The week ofThe run of the night, sent to you and your planner
- 1Service
- 2Date
- 3Details
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