Retro Notes

Fabulous group. Perfect for the event.

What a great night. The music was perfect for the event. The band was professional and even allowed a volunteer instrumentalist to play with them. Amazing group. Would love to have them back next year!

Wow! What a wonderful group of talent. This was the highlight of my party. Everyone loved the band! We had some musicians in the guest list and they were all very impressed.

We had Retro Notes as part of a dinner reception at a restaurant. They worked with the restaurant on the setup, stress free. They were super professional, great communications, on-time, very classy sounds and the guests loved it. I would definitely hire them again for future events.

We have used Retro Notes twice in the past few months. Once for a large fundraiser and once for a Holiday party. Both times Retro Notes were absolutely fantastic and played music that was fitting with the theme of the event. This is among the greatest live jazz bands I have ever experienced! They were very professional, on time, with all the equipment ready, and a planned playlist but with room for improvisations as the events would unfold. We will use Retro Notes many times in the future for our events! We are most grateful to the band for making both events a truly wonderful experience and we highly recommend them to anyone who is looking to make their events extra special. Thank you Retro Notes!

We hosted our nonprofit's holiday party and official annual meeting at a restaurant's banquet room. I contacted the band last minute, mere days prior and there was good communication back and forth in defining what would be a best band configuration. Retro Notes showed up on time and efficiently set up with minimal distraction to an occupied Board. Very good reception from our members about the music selection and quality. I felt a bit bad that our report presentation to our members and various official agenda items took up a good deal of time. When the band was able to really get into their second set, members were wined up and busy networking (making up time after two years of non face-to-face) -- Retro Notes did a great job putting out splendid music in a chaotic environment. Friendly group who were very professional.

We contacted Retro Notes only 3 days prior to our event, after another band cancelled on us with short notice. Grover and his team were easy to work with, very professional, and a perfect fit for our non profit fundraising event. They came with a Jaz Trio - no vocals only instrumental. Quality was excellent. Great overall attitudes.

Cannot thank the Retro Notes enough for their amazing performance. Super nice folks and very talented musicians made for a wonderful event. Everything about them was perfect - from excellent communication and coordination, dependability, exceptional music plus everyone was really friendly on top of it. I would not hesitate to recommend them and would absolutely without question book them again. Thank you Retro Notes for making it happen!

Thank you for your live performance! Your gift of music touched all the residents at the nursing home. What a powerful gift to provide a moment of grace to those in need during these uncertain times. Thank you for lifting my brothers spirits with you gift of music!

I hired Retro Notes to play at my mother-in-law's assisted living facility, which happened to be tier first live gig in front of an audience since the Covid madness began. Perhaps most importantly, their music was sublime! Wonderful, elegantly performed bossa nova classics and more. Everyone was very professional. THey arrived on time and were even able to start a bit early as I asked at the last minute. Bendik, the sax player and band leader, played several soulful solo's while serenading the awe-struck ladies in the house (in the parking lot, actually). Literally brought a tear to my eye when he played in front of my mother-in-law as she was visibly moved herself. And the lead singer was SOOOO good. I have booked MANY bands in my time as it is something I enjoy doing and I strongly recommend this band.

Thanks again, Bendik.

Retro Notes were beyond fantastic!
For our twilight open-house event, we requested to see if they could do a customized Trio Jazz Band (saxophone, piano, and bass) because our client wanted just a live background music - to which they said they could and boy did they deliver! They came on time, dressed up, and were very professional. I was also very pleased that I was able to maintain in contact with them whenever we wanted to reach them (asking questions, knowing their estimated arrival, etc) - so communication was a definitely plus! Last but not least, their jazzy music was amazingly beautiful, upbeat, and welcoming. Everyone enjoyed their presence :) To those reading this review, we STRONGLY & HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking Retro Notes for any Jazzy Band needs. Thank you again Retro Notes :) Looking forward to working with you again.

We hired the band for my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday and they were fantastic! They came very early and had plenty of time to set up and get their instruments in tune, they were extremely professional, and also so nice! I would highly recommend them!!!

We had Retro Notes for our Summer Series Concert at Sunny View Retirement Community. Our residents loved it! Some residents were dancing to the tune and others were singing along. Everyone had a wonderful time toes tapping! Thank you for the fun performance and a great start of summer.

TLDR; Getting people to care as much as you do is so, so rare, and I felt Bendik & Retro Notes's attention and care in every step of the process. I am sincerely thankful for their presence, and am planning to hire them again!

Booking + Contracting
I contacted Bendik about hiring Retro Notes for a backyard party/wedding reception. He called me within 12 hours of initial contact, and we connected about what I was looking for the event. I had little to no experience with booking bands, so Bendik patiently walked me through what to expect when hiring a band, what kinds of music his group played, what type of band would be appropriate for our gig, and what information he needed in order for the performance to be successful. He was very easy to talk to about logistics and pricing, and worked with me to make sure that we found a mutually agreeable price that made both parties whole. After these initial conversations, Bendik sent a copy of contract to my email to review and once it looked good, we signed the contact and paid for the band via GigSalad.

Ongoing Communication
Following contracting, Bendik and I exchanged many emails. He generously offered to have his band learn a couple new songs for our event. I thought this was such a special sentimental touch to incorporate into our reception, and we were so grateful the group would go out of the way to do that for us. Bendik reached out with multiple drafts of the song list to get my feedback. Bendik was quick to respond and highly available to answer our questions, confirming final logistic details to make me feel comfortable.

Performance
Bendik asked to set up a couple hours in advance of the start of our party to make sure soundcheck and equipment flowed smoothly. Once everything was set up, he and the pianist played instrumental music for 1.5 hours, followed by the vocalist and drummer joining to round out the band for another 2 hours of music. The music was lovely -- the group had the finesse of many gigs together and we could tell they were comfortable around one another. Our guests were highly complimentary and wanted us to share Retro Note's booking information so they could book the band for their own events.

Final Notes
I have nothing but the most positive things to say about Bendik and Retro Notes. They are professional, great at what they do, and I'd love to invite them for future parties we host. Thanks again to Retro Notes for adding that extra sparkle to our party!

Band was able to accommodate my last minute needs. Great appearance, Great sound!! Thank you!!

I requested Retro Notes last minute, and they where able to make it to my Corporate Event with little notice. Overall, great experience with this band! Thank you! I will be sure to book you again in the future!!

I am so glad we hired Retro Notes to perform at our senior retirement center event. They were fantastic! They played a nice variety of music and had everyone smiling and humming along. One of the musicians walked around the room and visited each table while he played, making it a personal experience. Dancers in the front were fun to watch too. The residents thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The band arrived on time and were efficient with setup and tear down. Communication was good before and during the event. I would definitely hire Retro Notes again.

We were in a tiny space and the band really made it work. I thought guests would be more comfortable in other rooms but they all celebrated and danced with the band the entire time. They made it really fun. Best of all they set up early before the rush of guests.

We hired Retro Notes for our private party. Our decision to add live music to our party was kind of last minute, but Retro Notes was very professional and accommodating in terms of working with our time and space constraints. We worked out all the details in just a few mails. The responses from the band manager were always fast and clear and they were able to meet all of our requests.

The band showed up promptly on the day of the gig. They brought all their equipment and sound system and setup everything perfectly within the space we had reserved for the band. The music was very, very good. The quality of the musicians and the show they put on was certainly well beyond our expectations. It's like bringing a performance from Yoshi's stage to your own party. They were not only excellent musicians, but their low key but adorable stage presence and kept the full attention of our guests during the entire set. The quality of the sound system they brought was very good, not too loud but very clear and balanced.

Overall, this was a superb experience. We would definitely recommend Retro Notes for parties and events as a first rate jazz band that provides a memorable performance.

I'm on the board of a local non-profit down in the south county area and came across Retro Notes via many recommendations & their performance at the SJZ Summer Fest this year. I was definitively not let down at all by our entertainment choice, they add the perfect touch to our event. We did "cocktail party" style award event with a little difficulty getting set up due to the venue but.... as soon as these guys kicked off their set all heads turned, chat paused for a bit, and it was the as I said already, the perfect touch to pull our event together and make it great. I pride myself in finding fantastic talent every year for our event and oh was I smiling to say, "yeah book the band" ha ha as I kept hearing comment of our great they were. Talking & mingling was able to still continue while they played and we also have handful of guests take to the dance floor during their sets. So in summary, great band, highly recommended entertainers, and they were also So accommodating day of the event And communicated quite well from initial inquiry and time leading up to our date. (*bought a CD from them that day and it's currently being playing in the car now)

“Wonderful!” “Love it!” “We should have them play longer!”  These are some of the comments I received after our gala event last week.  We hired Retronotes to play for an hour at the start of our 300+ attendees corporate event.  The focus was to connect or reconnect with people.  We did not have a music program in the past so decided just to have jazz for an hour to set the mood.  What a pleasant surprise!  We received many compliments from attendees.  In retrospect, we should have hired them for the entire event.  Bendik and his group are very professional and easy to work with, from pre-booking to confirming details for the event to setup and tear down.  I would definitely recommend them and hire them again!