Great music can shape the entire feel of a wedding or special event.
It might be the piano playing as guests arrive, relaxed jazz during the drinks reception, a live band filling the dance floor after dinner or a DJ keeping everybody moving late into the night.
The challenge is finding the right music for every part of the occasion.
That is exactly what Groove Star Collective is designed to provide.
Based in Swindon, Wiltshire, Groove Star Collective brings together a selection of experienced professional musicians offering live bands, jazz ensembles, DJs, DJ and sax combinations and solo piano music for weddings, parties and corporate events.
With around 25 years of professional performance experience across the UK and internationally behind the musicians involved, the Collective can provide everything from sophisticated background music during a drinks reception to a full eight-piece party band later in the evening.
And importantly, Groove Star Collective is not an entertainment agency.
The musicians are the people customers deal with directly, meaning there are no unnecessary middlemen or agency fees between the client and the performers – they are easily contactable through Facebook.
Here are three reasons why Groove Star Collective could be a great choice for your wedding, party or special event.
1. You can arrange music for the entire event in one place
One of the biggest advantages of Groove Star Collective is that it is not simply one wedding band offering one type of performance.
There are several different options within the Collective, each designed for a different part of an event.
For those wanting a big evening party, there is Groove Star, the Collective’s high-energy four to eight-piece function band.
Groove Star specialises in soul and Motown classics, 70s disco and funk alongside dance floor favourites from across the decades.
The band can be adapted depending on the size, style and budget of the occasion.
The four-piece version features female vocals, keyboards, bass and drums, while the five-piece adds a guitarist who can also switch to saxophone for selected songs.
The six-piece brings in an additional saxophonist, while the seven and eight-piece versions build things up further with a horn section for customers looking for that bigger live soul and Motown sound.
But the live band is only one part of what the Collective offers.
For a more relaxed atmosphere earlier in the day, customers can choose the Soul-Jazz Ensemble.
The ensemble performs swinging standards including Fly Me to the Moon, Cheek to Cheek, Have You Met Miss Jones and The Girl from Ipanema alongside contemporary music given its own jazz treatment.
Songs associated with artists including James Brown, Adele and Olivia Dean can therefore sit alongside traditional jazz standards, creating something familiar without simply sounding like another playlist.
The Soul-Jazz offering itself can also be adapted.
There is a vocal jazz quartet or quintet performing music associated with artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Carole King and Roberta Flack.
Instrumental options include a quintet featuring trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, upright bass and drums, a quartet with tenor saxophone, upright bass, piano and drums and smaller piano and saxophone trio combinations.
That makes it particularly well suited to wedding receptions, cocktail hours, hotels, private functions and other occasions where the music needs to create an atmosphere without taking over the room.
Then there is Steven Fixter’s solo piano music.
Steve performs a mixture of well loved popular songs, light classical and jazz standards, making solo piano an option for wedding ceremonies, receptions, hotel lounges, dinners and private functions.
It means the same Collective could potentially provide piano music as guests arrive, jazz during drinks and Groove Star for the evening party.
For couples already dealing with venues, food, photographers, flowers, transport, seating plans and everything else that somehow appears on a wedding checklist, being able to organise several parts of the music through one place can make life considerably easier.
2. The evening can move from live music into a full DJ party
A live band can produce some of the biggest moments of a wedding evening.
But eventually the musicians have to stop playing.
That does not necessarily mean the party has to stop too.
Groove Star Collective also includes GS DJ Services, giving customers the option of professional DJ entertainment either on its own or alongside the live musicians.
The DJ setup includes a professional booth, PA system and party lighting with moving heads, helping turn the evening into a proper celebration rather than somebody simply pressing play on a laptop in the corner.
There is also a DJ and sax option for customers who want the energy of live performance combined with a DJ set.
It is an increasingly popular style of wedding entertainment for good reason.
A saxophonist can perform alongside the DJ during some of the biggest songs of the night, creating those moments that tend to pull people towards the dance floor rather quickly.
The advantage of having these options within one Collective is flexibility.
Some couples may want a pianist during the ceremony followed by a DJ in the evening.
Others might prefer jazz during their drinks reception, Groove Star after dinner and a DJ to finish the night.
Another event might only need the Soul-Jazz Ensemble for a sophisticated afternoon reception.
There is no reason every wedding or event should follow exactly the same musical formula.
The soundtrack should fit the occasion.
That becomes much easier when there are several different types of entertainment available rather than one fixed package being offered to everybody.
The Groove Star band itself also has a particularly broad repertoire.
Soul and Motown are major parts of its sound, with music associated with Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Jacksons, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Jackie Wilson and Tina Turner all featuring.
Disco favourites associated with Chic, Sister Sledge, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Rose Royce and Earth, Wind and Fire can then sit alongside more modern music.
Artists including Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Amy Winehouse and Dua Lipa feature alongside familiar wedding and party favourites from ABBA, Elton John, Bon Jovi, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Dolly Parton and Van Morrison.
That mixture matters when the dance floor contains several generations at once.
The newlyweds might want modern pop. Their parents might be waiting for Motown. Somebody’s uncle has been hoping for classic rock since the starters arrived.
And there is usually at least one guest who suddenly discovers a previously unseen level of enthusiasm the moment ABBA starts playing.
A good wedding soundtrack needs enough variety to keep all of them interested.
3. You deal directly with experienced professional musicians
Perhaps the biggest difference between Groove Star Collective and many wedding entertainment websites is simple.
The Collective is made up of the artists themselves rather than operating as an agency.
That means customers are speaking directly to the people involved in providing the entertainment.
There is no 20 percent agent fee being added simply for somebody to sit between the client and the musicians, and the people discussing the event understand exactly what can be delivered on the day.
That direct relationship can be particularly useful for weddings.
Music is rarely a completely isolated part of the schedule.
The ceremony has to finish before the drinks reception begins. Speeches sometimes run over. Dinner takes longer than expected. Guests disappear outside just before the evening entertainment is due to start and then all reappear at once ten minutes later.
Experienced musicians understand that real events do not always run with military precision.
The performers behind Groove Star Collective bring around a quarter of a century of professional experience in the music industry, performing across the UK and internationally.
Members of Groove Star have performed or recorded with artists and performers including Sir Cliff Richard, S Club 7, The Supremes, Kevin Simm, Bradley Walsh, Andy Abraham and Sir Simon Rattle.
Musicians have also shared stages with names including James Brown, The Animals, Steve Cropper and Saxon.
That experience is valuable, but it does not mean a wedding needs to feel like a huge arena concert.
What matters is having performers who understand their instruments, know how to work with an audience and can judge what a particular event needs.
The Soul-Jazz Ensemble has even featured on a Bupa television commercial, while the wider Collective has been built around bringing together musicians capable of performing in very different settings.
Steve Fixter is involved personally across the Collective as manager, keyboard player and solo pianist.
That means customers can discuss the type of occasion they are planning, the atmosphere they want to create and which combination of performers makes the most sense.
It could be one service.
It could be several.
The important thing is that the entertainment can be shaped around the event rather than forcing the event to fit around one standard package.
That is ultimately what makes Groove Star Collective particularly interesting.
You could start the day with Steven Fixter playing piano during the ceremony, move into a relaxed Soul-Jazz performance during drinks, bring out Groove Star for a packed evening dance floor and finish the night with GS DJ Services or DJ and sax.
Or you can simply choose whichever individual option suits your plans.
Either way, you are dealing directly with the musicians involved.
For weddings, birthday celebrations, corporate events, Christmas parties and private functions across Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, the South, Southwest and Midlands, Groove Star Collective offers a flexible way to build the soundtrack to an entire event.
Because whether guests remember a beautiful piano arrangement during the ceremony, cocktails accompanied by live jazz or singing along on a packed dance floor at midnight, the best events usually have one thing in common.
The music felt like it belonged there.