Sam has been my guitar teacher for over a year now. It has been a great experience! He has helped…read moreme learn styles and techniques like basic blues tunes, jazz standards, and even a few classical duets. He regularly shares his insights into applying new strumming and fingerpicking approaches to the songs that I like. He allows me to use my phone to record him performing the material covered. This has been very helpful, to have his audio model to refer to throughout the week. You can expect to get some great material from Sam. Blues riffs sheets were good exercises for me to get started. These are very cool and a blast to play once you've got them down. Sam will listen to you and offer tips for improvement. I also love being able to bring in a sheet of music, which he will then demonstrate how to play, and, better yet, play it with me. It's a kick when he jams with you over a song! Sam is an effective instructor--one day's teaching will keep you busy for an entire week. He is also a gifted performer. When he plays pieces from his own repertoire, they are so expressive and masterful, they will go straight to your heart. Let Sam light your fire and open up a rewarding new world--maybe even inspire you to become a concert level musician like he is. Tip: drill daily at home around the lessons to show fast enough progress to not get discouraged, and also to show appreciation for the attention from such an awesome musician!

I was very happy with the Steel Drum band that we hired through Life of the Party. Robert was very…read moreprofessional and helpful during the planning stages of our party. The steel drum duo that played at our party were very good and everyone enjoyed the music - it wasn't too loud and the music provided a nice background to our island themed party.

San Diego is blessed to have few very good big bands; this is one of them. The band is quite…read moreflexible and plays a wide range of dance music, from waltz to swing, with the mix varying depending on the venue. I have danced to their tunes at the Champion Ballroom. The sound was pretty good, the volume just right, vocal soloists engaging. Will definitely try to dance to their music again. Tip for the lead: the band has a tendency to cut a ballroom song abruptly without much of a musical cue, setting even an experienced lead up for a challenge. Be very alert toward the end of the song, watch the band and be ready to continue for a few counts without the music - lightly stomping if necessary - this worked well for the bold leads. I did not have any issue with guessing the final counts of the swing songs, however.

Due to a last-minute cancellation of entertainment for our annual Chamber dinner, we searched and…read morefound Dano on Google. Listened to his music and then called and was surprised we were able to reach him right away. Dano was accommodating, personal, and professional and his music was enjoyed by all. Dano showed up early and was ready to start playing when the guests arrived. His steel drums set the tone for the evening and we couldn't have been happier. Thank you Dano, 5 BIG STARS for you.

I had the pleasure of working with Dan from Dano Island Sounds for our Golf Charity event at the…read moreRancho Bernardo Inn. Dan was professional and friendly and made my life on the day so much easier, he knew exactly what we needed. His music created a great vibe during the registration process and everyone loved the sound. We used the steel drum solo and it was fabulous. We will definitely hire Dan again for our next event and I highly recommend him.

One great thing:Incredible performance for the first act, like a sugar plum fairy on a cirque…read morehoop. They also had some fun and talented acrobatic elves; nice for kid's. The rest was eh... I posted a picture of the evil hip hop skull figures who were there for whatever reason; because I hated it. Lol. I knew I would have to explain my review and a picture says 1,000 words, so there you go. And then they returned to encircle a soldier girl being tossed in the air by other soldiers. They kinda ruined it. It could have been good... maybe angels jumping for joy surrounded by shepherds next time? Something that means Christmas for a Christmas themed show... Why ya gotta pg-13 everything Sea World? A few little kids around me didn't dig the evil dancers part and some parents were surprised. So, Parents be forewarned if your child is sensitive to dark themes. This show has it. Yeah the inner conspiracy theorist in me also saw the 3 numeral sixes 'hidden' in the tree of their logo. I cannot believe they got rid of O Wondrous Night for this. If you like fighting for a seat you waited 30 minutes for because people are trying to save seats even though you're explicitly told not to save seats before you enter, and you like your Christmas mixed with a drop of passion, this is your venue and show. Oh brother...

I loved this show but wished it was longer than 18 minutes. No boring moments though. Another…read morereviewer mentioned the scary 'skull-faced' hip-hop dancers. Actually they portray the rats that have a battle with the soldiers in the original Nutcracker ballet. The music during the rat portion is ominous and might scare the easily-scared. Aside from the dancers there is a lyra performer (the Sugarplum fairy on a metal hoop), Russian bar soldiers, and teeter board elves. If you sit in the upper half of the theater you have a more panoramic view and get to see the 'snow' that falls during the lyra portion. There are really no bad seats in this theater which holds 800 people.

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would definitely recommend these two violinists!! Professional demeanor and…read moregorgeous music! They are definitely worth every cent! Thank you so much for adding to our memories!!!!

I hired Sensational Strings for my wedding in May and they were absolutely phenomenal!! When I…read morefound out that they donate a portion to 3rd world music programs and donate playing time to different organizations, it swayed me to contact them. While watching my wedding video I thought that the videographer had used a CD because the sound quality was exceptional. They showed up early and prepared to my client consultation meeting and the day of my wedding. I wanted my wedding vendors to match the style of my wedding, and they showed up looking classy, professional, and youthful. (Unlike most white hired aged string ensembles). As my situation continued to change and develop they were sweet, flexible and extremely accommodating. They were willing to travel to my out of the way location.. I asked for several non-traditional pieces and they took the time to arrange the songs to fit for my wedding entrance and exit. Pricing wise, they gave me the best deal I could find, and I loved how they opened the door for negotiating the price down stating "We want to fit with your budget needs." I highly recommend Sensational Strings for their music services. Having just graduated with my MBA, I was impressed with their business setup, pricing, marketing availability, and cooperation with our needs. These ladies knocked it out of the ball park through their quality sound in performance, excellent customer intimacy, and their focus for a better world through music.

Farrah was the very first vendor I reached out to and contracted for my wedding last month. I heard…read moreFarrah performing live with her guitar at the L'Auberge Del Mar while having brunch with my parents and scoping out this beautiful hotel as a possible venue. Her voice was so lyrical and beautiful, without even knowing where I would get married I asked her if she was available to perform on my wedding day. From there, working with Farrah was completely seamless. She was extremely responsive via email, she gave me great suggestions for songs on my big day, and was nothing but amazing on the day. As many say, I totally blanked out during my wedding because it was so intense, emotional and went so fast. I actually couldn't even hear anything as I walked down the aisle! But every time I replay the videos from the moment I walked down with my father to her singing, I literally cry every single time - it was such a beautiful and meaningful moment for me and all my guests, literally perfection. Farrah performed as my guests arrived for the ceremony, she performed during my ceremony and then during the cocktail hour reception. She worked extremely well with all of my other vendors and my wedding planner, and I can't recommend her enough! She's so talented, but also very reliable and flexible - exactly what you would need for any big day, event, or occasion. Our wedding was at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - La Jolla, partially outside looking out on the beach. Her style of singing and presence matched perfectly with our vibe. But honestly, I can see Farrah fitting in, in so many different environments and locations, she was even open to learning specific songs for my family and she has great musical and social EQ/IQ to perform music based on the audience and ambiance. All of my guests gave her raving reviews and loved hearing her sing. She really added something so special and beautiful to our day and we will forever be grateful!

Farrah is my top musician for all of my corporate events. She's the best and her voice is lovely!read more

The New Orleans Swinging G's is a jazz band in San Diego. This band is hard to pin exactly onto the…read morejazz map - John and Giselle are hard to pin even on the geographic map (note the NO in the band name) - thus only 4 star rating for mediocre swing dancers like me (this is the angle of view I use for all the bands). If you come to listen or can better interpret the music, this can be easily a five-star experience. So, for the dancers - the exact style is "post modern New Orleans swing"; if you are musically challenged, like me, think mostly gypsy swing (fast), heavily reinterpreted ("futuristic punk rock"), mixed with some blues. A bit of advice for an intermediate lead: wait for a few seconds before getting up, if you cannot recognize the rhythm, sit the song out - I've seen dancers getting musically stranded on the floor.