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“Great music which got everyone on the dance floor...(we have the embarassing photos to prove it!)”
Ana and Andy (wedding at The Great House, Sonning)

Whether you're looking for background jazz to provide the perfect backdrop for the drinks reception at your wedding or for an evening dinner party or if you're looking for an uptempo swing band to get your guests onto the dance floor – or even something between the two - we can help.

The Abbey Jazz Quartet is led by Jan Steele on tenor sax and includes piano, double bass and drums. The musicians have a wealth of experience with members of the band performing throughout Europe, the USA and Canada and have performed together all over the UK. For background music we can play as a duo or trio, or if you'd like a bigger sound we can add more musicians - for example singer, guitarist or trumpet. We bring our own piano and can provide a PA and basic stage lighting if required. We have a repertoire of well over 300 tunes and are always happy to learn something new if there's a song you'd especially like which we don't already know!

Our core repertoire consists of mainstream and swing era jazz standards, classic Broadway, bossa nova and Latin. We specialise in the songbooks of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Cole Porter and other great song-writers and performers.

We also have a repertoire of classic Bollywood film songs by the great singers (Rafi, Lata, Anuradha etc) which we can play instrumentally making us an ideal choice for modern Asian events. We can add tabla to the percussion section for this.

Our saxophone player is also a clarinettist and for Jewish events we have a repertoire of klezmer tunes – ideal for bar/batmitzvahs and weddings.

“Walking into the room with my favourite jazz playing was really something...the highlight of the wedding for me...we absolutely loved it...Thank you!” Alexandra and Russ (wedding at Highclere Castle)

“Thank you so much for a fantastic evening...everybody had a wonderful time, we really didn't want you to stop!” Hannah (Publishers Christmas Party)

“Thank you so much for adding that special sparkle to our wedding day!” Kavita and Pankaj (playing for Hindu wedding ceremony)

“Brilliant...we had so many comments from our guests saying how great you were” Marie P (wedding at Blenheim Palace)

“Thanks again for your superb performance at the Omar Homes/Lulu gig” Jack (Miltex Entertainment)

We have played for events as diverse as the topping out celebration for the new Marks and Spencers headquarters in Paddington (hard hats and ladders involved!), a reception for the Prime Minister of Bermuda at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, as well as hundreds of private events from christenings to funerals and everything in between where there is something to celebrate!

Besides playing for some really prestigious clients in large venues we have also squeezed into some very small places – such as a client's living room to play for her husband's surprise birthday dinner with just 6 guests – great fun!

A note about fees

Our minimum fee is based on 4 musicians playing for 2 one-hour or 3 x 40 min sets within 3 hours outside times within our own area. Although we are happy to travel anywhere - long distances naturally make the costs higher. We tailor our quotes to your specific requirements.