Hella Fitzgerald

Hella Fitzgerald and Lilan Kane are THE BEST! It was wonderful to have a wedding band that was as excited as me for my wedding! She went above and beyond, even writing a horn line for my first dance song so it fit with the rest of the music for the night! The perfect classy, fun, and epic wedding band.

Hella Fitzgerald was electric at our wedding — we had the best time, and our guests kept telling us how fun and incredible the band was throughout the night. Lilan was super easy to work with and had excellent communication through the process. Highly recommend!

So glad we went with Hella Fitzgerald for our wedding last April! The band manager Lilan brought a personal touch to put together a spectacular trio that featured some of the most talented and professional musicians in the Bay Area. Our family and friends are still talking about the band a year later! Hire this band for your event. You won't regret it.

Hella Fitzgerald has great energy and gives a fantastic performance! They are easy to work with in advance and excellent day of. Would highly recommend!

Hella Fitzgerald MADE our wedding reception, and we still hear from guests who remember them. Many of our friends and family are musicians themselves and know what top-notch sounds like. This band is cookin'! Special thanks to Lilan for running a tight ship and accommodating a couple song requests. Hearing those songs, which she arranged for the band, really warmed our hearts—thank you! Look, hiring live music, especially a large band like this, is not inexpensive. There are cheaper options out there. But if you want something extra, something people will remember, this is it. It was so worth it.

We were so lucky to have found Hella Fitzgerald! You made our special day spectacular. Amazing music and talent!

I produced a gala in San Francisco and needed a band that reflected the theme. Lilan was a joy to work with - from planning to execution. The entire HF band was amazing, and I would book them again in a heartbeat.

Hella Fitzgerald was absolutely amazing to work with. Lilan and the band were such collaborative partners in creating a set list that fit the style that we wanted. Though our wedding was rather small (<100 attendees) music was such a big priority for us, we wanted to create a lounge like atmosphere with a trio. Lilan was clear and communicative about the bands needs, she made sure to provide options within our budget which was a huge plus. 
 The performance the day of our wedding was like out of a dream. Lilan's voice was absolutely stunning and I can't imagine our wedding reception any other way. We chose "Sunday Kind of Love" for our song and it was just so deeply moving so many attendees went out of their way to compliment us on the band. I gladly recommend Hella Fitzgerald!

Hella Fitzgerald provided the music for our wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. In one word: Fantastic! All of the band members are very talented musicians, and band leader, Lilan, is on top of everything, a great communicator. and excellent MC! The band learned/performed several songs for our special dances (father-daughter, mother-son, and first dance), and even personalized them as we requested. Their music got all our guests up and out of their seats dancing, and kept the energy up the entire night!

My wife and I hired Hella Fitzgerald to play at our small wedding in San Francisco. We rented out a Victorian-era mansion for about 50 guests and hired Hella Fitzgerald as a classy 3-piece jazz ensemble (vocals, grand piano, upright bass) to play after the reception. They sounded amazing and perfectly set the tone for a relaxed jazz club like scene where my wife and I could mingle and actually enjoy the company of our guests. Lilan has an amazing voice and was also wonderful to work with leading up to the event. She made the entire process seamless and put together a perfect repertoire for our intimate soiree. The entire band was a pleasure to work with from start to finish, and I appreciated their professionalism and attention to detail. All in all, I couldn't have been happier with Hella Fitzgerald's performance at my wedding. They truly made the night unforgettable and created a fantastic atmosphere that we'll never forget. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a talented and charismatic jazz band for their next event.

Lilan and her team were amazing! They absolutely made our wedding the most epic dance party - we even had a dance battle! Their sound was the perfect mix of funky jazz and beautiful vocals. They did a wonderful job! It was absolutely worth having them come down from Oakland to San Luis Obispo.

Hella Fitzgerald is amazing. It is a collective made up of some of the best musicians in the Bay Area, who are frequently touring the world with Grammy-winning acts and leading their own amazing bands when not playing with Hella Fitzgerald. I am also a gigging musician in the area, so it was awesome to have players who I admire and am friends with performing at my wedding. The musicians in the audience had their jaws on the floor listening to the amazing skills on stage, and everyone else was just dancing their butts off to the awesome funk, soul, pop, and rock. Our wedding was outside and it was really cold, but Hella Fitzgerald handled it with no problem, and everyone on the dance floor was shedding their layers as they heated up from dancing!

My fiancé and I wanted a simple wedding but with great food and music. Hella Fitzgerald made our wedding really fun for all our guests! They were extremely professional from start to finish of the event, assisting our family member officiant with all the audio and music for the ceremony. Our morning wedding was so special and unique with their creative sound-- and our families tore up the dance floor! They were very open to being flexible with our event and were an extremely worthy addition to our budget. Cannot recommend enough.

Hella Fitzgerald performed at our wedding a couple weeks ago and they absolutely killed it. Everybody danced. Even my dad couldn’t help himself! And we still have people texting us about how incredible the music was. Lilan’s voice is magical, and the musicians are so darn talented. This band can do, and does, shows at incredible venues like Yoshi’s and Club Deluxe. We are honestly so grateful that they made time to do our wedding. They made it an incredible night. This is absolutely the band you should go with. They were so great at our wedding that I had to make this post-nuptial TheKnot account leave them this review.

I can't say enough good things about this band! They absolutely made our wedding come to life and had everyone out on the dance floor. They were so accommodating from start to finish and really tailored to our requests. I highly recommend Hella Fitzgerald for your wedding or event! You and your guests will have a blast!

Hella Fitzgerald is simply the best. They've got that old school cool, sexy sax, amazing lead singer vibe. I used them for years for private parties and corporate events.. and just hired them for my wedding in October. Easy to work with, great communication, on-time, and most importantly.... FUN. Our guests are still talking about the band 2 months later.

This band is so killer! They played super fun dance music that was a great variety to get lots of different folks out on the floor. I am a local musician so I have known Lilan and the band through the music scene for years and I expected them to be amazing and they actually managed to be even better than my, already very high, expectations!

Lilan and her band were perfect for our wedding -- soulful and energetic live music highly recommend. If you are looking for easy full service band that isn't corny and gets folks dancing Hella Fitzgerald is great.

They are the best wedding band, period! Lilan has a beautiful voice and she was very accommodating with our planing and requests! Nikki and I Just had our wedding yesterday, October 29 2022 and they were outstanding! Hella Fitzgerald is very talented, fun, and they knew how to play to our crowd! My family and friends were raving all night about how great they were and how much fun it was to dance to their tunes! Lilan is amazing and Nikki and I can't wait to see them perform somewhere in the future!

Hella Fitzgerald delivered. The band is solid with excellent sound, thanks to their super helpful bass player/sound guy. Their music set the perfect atmosphere. As a musician myself, I had high expectations for them - and they did not disappoint. We were happy, our guests loved it, and I highly recommend them for your event. Thank you!

I am so glad that we booked Hella Fitzgerald for our wedding! We had a very diverse crowd at our wedding, and I was worried that it would be hard to find a band that would appeal to everyone and get people dancing, but Hella exceeded our wildest expectations! Everyone was out on the floor having a great time and people told us over and over again that it was the most fun they've ever had dancing - all thanks to Hella. We're also salsa dancers, and Hella Fitzgerald managed to adapt some of their songs to fit a salsa beat, which was a completely unexpected delight for us. This band sounds as great live as they do on their demos, and they are fun and professional and will make any night a party to remember. Lilan was a pleasure to work with during the planning aspect of things too. Book them!

Hella Fitzgerald is one of the best bands in the Bay Area. Our wedding’s theme was 1930’s vintage, and HF was the perfect fit in every way. They are easy to work with, flexible, and sound REALLY good. Our families from Chicago, Southern CA, and Minnesota all pulled me aside and ask, “What is that band called? They’re amazing!” If you have an event - book these guys! Thanks for making our wedding so memorable and fun. - Justin Capsuto

They were the band for my sister’s wedding. Amazing!

Hella Fitzgerald is SUCH a fun band to have at your wedding. My husband and I were searching for a band that specialized Jazz, Funk, R&B and other more classic genres of music. They had us on our feet and dancing the night away. We had not one, but two ripped pants on the dance floor that night (including the groom's) which I consider to be a true testament to how talented and entertaining they were. They helped arrange our ceremony music as well (we went with a harpist) and handled all of the sound set up. Lilan was great at MCing the night. Thank you Hella Fitzgerald for making our wedding ROCK and for being so flexible and helpful throughout the uncertainty of planning a wedding during covid. Our guests had a blast and so did we!

Awesome music and awesome people! Lilan was very flexible with our ever-changing Covid plans and she worked to make our special day as memorable as possible. Highly recommend!

Hella Fitzgerald is an energetic and extremely talented group of musicians! They played a terrific mix of genres as well as classic and unique songs at our wedding that got every guest grooving on the dance floor all night. Hiring this band for your wedding or other event is a worthy investment, and guests will fondly remember it long afterwards. Kimiko, the lead singer, also did a flawless job setting up and managing the sound system during the ceremony and reception, too. There were no issues with sound quality during vows, speeches, or dancing which allowed everyone to fully enjoy the moment. Their band manager was responsive, kind, and very professional and provided various options to fit our event needs and budget. We’re grateful to have had the best band at our wedding and highly recommend them!

Hella Fitzgerald made our wedding hella good! They were professional and courteous, accommodating (the band learned pieces we requested and allowed us to jam with them) and they rocked!! Lila was such a great MC and front woman! I highly recommend them.

They are AMAZING! I didn't leave the dance floor for the whole event. Jazzy music, incredible vocals, and GREAT VIBES. These musicians are SO TALENTED! I will take any opportunity to see Hella Fitzgerald

I found Hella Fitzgerald after a simple Google search, and am so grateful I did. I was running point on entertainment for my company's holiday party and Hella Fitzgerald was the right choice to fit our 1920s theme, and get the energy going. They were easy to communicate with during the planning process, and an incredibly talented band.

Hella Fitzgerald was fantastic. Lilan and the band got everyone on the floor and moving all night! In addition to the main band, at our cocktail hour we also had Honor Brass Band (Hella Fitzgerald's New Orleans brass band with many of the same members). Between the two groups, they played so many different styles of music - jazz, funk, pop, everything in between - and did a great job reading the room to keep the energy high. Aside from that, Lilan and the team were amazing to work with. SUPER professional and organized (but like, in a fun way), and came with a lot of great ideas based on their experience of what was going to work best. They were also really open and accommodating about the ideas and requests we had. Anyway, everyone should hire this band. They are the best. Thanks Hella Fitzgerald!

Hella Fitzgerald was the PERFECT band for our wedding day. They were responsive in the planning process and stayed flexible to our vision. All of their preparatory efforts led to a smooth day and a whole , happy crowd of dancers! We could not recommend them more highly!

My (now) husband and I booked Hella Fitzgerald for our wedding at a small venue in September. They were recommended to us by the venue and we were instantly impressed by their videos online. Working with them was so easy and stress-free. They kept in constant contact with us throughout the planning process and kept everything on track and fun on our wedding day. We would recommend Hella Fitzgerald for your wedding or event, they were perfect!

We are so happy Hella Fitzgerald was able to be such a big part of our wedding! They really knew how to bring down the house with their powerful sets. I highly recommend them for any party. Lilan was clear and communicative leading up to the big day and the band stayed true to their schedule. A++ performance!

Hella Fitzgerald played for our wedding August 2019 - and they were AMAZING!!! They were easy to work with during the planning process, and were great performers on the day of the show. Detailed review: 1) The Music - This is an incredible group of musicians!  We hired a group of 9 musicians (2 singers, horns, sax, guitar, base, drums, keyboards). Several of our guests were musicians themselves and they were impressed by the bands' talent. - The singers (Lilan in particular) are so talented! Soulful, engaging and always in tune - it was a serious treat to get to listen and dance to them! The set list was also perfect. They had a great list of songs, and were respectful of our "do not play list". They played a great combination of funk, soul, pop - providing a unique/memorable all super fun dance party. Our guests kept commenting on how good the band was! 2) MC Skills - Lilan MC'd our reception events (intros, speeches, cake cutting, first dances, etc) and she was professional, succinct, and articulate. We were proud to have her guide the events and keep things running smoothly.  3) Professionalism & Communication- Working w/ Hella Fitzgerald was an easy process. They had a straight forward contract, and were happy to answer questions and work with our venue coordinator as needed. They went above and beyond to meet the venue requirements, which we sincerely appreciated! Overall - from easy-going personalities, to a fun set list, to great musicianship - this band is amazing! They are cool / timeless all at the same time and we 110% would book them again. Thank you to Lilan and her team for making our wedding so memorable!

This band is killer! We hired them for our wedding reception in July 2020 at the St. Francis Yacht Club and they made the night unforgettable. They were fun and upbeat. Volume control was great for the older crowd and the energy from the band and on the dance floor was unforgettable. Do yourself a favor and hire this band!

The dance floor was one of the most important parts of our wedding and we knew we wanted a live band to really bring the energy. This band is legit. They are all extremely talented musicians, and all our guests loved it. We got so many compliments on the band, still a couple months later. My biggest advice to couples when working with them is to not try to micro manage. We probably tended towards the type A planning couple, and in retrospect this was unnecessary stress we were putting on ourselves. Communication isn’t always that speedy, but I think they hired a dedicated person so it’s improved. And generally, they know what they’re doing, so just give them some direction and they can craft a set list from there that will keep people on their feet all night. Would work with them again in a heartbeat.

Hella Fitzgerald exceeded my every expectation! Working with this band from start to finish, they are really a class act. I booked them for a high end gig in SF and the guests and clients could not stop talking about how incredible the entertainment was. Lilan and her team were incredible to work with, and their product was incredible. I would recommend them to anyone in a heart beat!

Hella Fitzgerald and associated act, Honor Brass Band were absolutely amazing for our wedding. They looked great, they sounded amazing, they brought A+ energy to the dance floor and they made it all flow so smoothly. With very little guidance from us, they knew exactly how to handle every aspect of the sound, music and MC responsibilities. They made it so easy and so good. Hire great & talented people and they will make your life easy on the one day when you really shouldn't have to worry about anything. Thank you Lilan and Hella Fitzgerald and Daniel and Honor Brass Band.

Go directly to Hella Fitzgerald. Skip all the amatures out there. Seriously, book Hella Fitzgerald if you want to be taken care of by musicians that know what the heck they are doing. I can't say enough about the professionalism, ability to adapt, and downright musical mastery displayed by this amazing group!

Amazing band for our vintage-y wedding! They absolutely made the evening what it was and we couldn’t have been happier with their performance. They were engaging with the audience and made the announcements go seamlessly throughout the night.

Hella Fitzgerald recently played at a fundraising event for me, and they really made the evening special. They are fantastic musicians and kept everyone on their feet dancing... but even more important was how easy they are to work with. Very, very nice people and showed flexibility in a couple of unusual situations - I was the event organizer so they made me look good. Terrific voices and amazing musicianship. You'll love them!

Lilan and a trio ensemble from Hella Fitzgerald performed at our wedding. Lilan has a beautiful voice. She is very professional and easy to work with. Lilan performs all over the Bay Area as a professional singer. We are very happy and would recommend Hella Fitzgerald!!

Best wedding band hands down! We had Hella Fitzgerald play our wedding in Napa, and they made everything PERFECT! Thank you for making our day so fun and special!

Extremely easy to work with, Hella Fitzgerald set the right tempo and tone for my wedding. They did 3 sets, one for cocktail hour and 2 during the reception. The cocktail hour featured a trio while the reception featured a full band. The music they played was nothing short of amazing! Cocktail hour set the mood with some light jazz; the reception set built up the energy wonderfully culminating with songs that energized my guests on the dance floor. Best of all, they were highly accommodating when structuring the full package. Would highly recommend!

What an amazing and talented ensemble! We recently had the pleasure of having Hella Fitzgerald play at our wedding (5.12.18), and we are so incredibly happy that we did. Our band was led by Natalie and Tasche, who were both incredible musicians with loads of energy, enthusiasm, and charisma. All of our guests RAVED about the band. They definitely set the perfect tone throughout the event: for the ceremony Tasche played lovely and well timed renditions of two classical pieces I requested, the cocktail hour and dinner featured a selection of their jazz, swing and blues cannon, and the reception was brought to life with their incredible soul, funk and contemporary selection. I requested they learn a new song for our first dance, and their rendition was so far and above the source material I had sent them. Both Natalie and Tasche have such beautiful and powerful voices, and with each song I was blown away. Their range was so fluid and impressive! Lilan, the band leader, was the epitome of class and professionalism in her communications with me, and her correspondence was always prompt. She checked in with me multiple times before the event, and her planning shone through in the effortless flow that characterized the event. I made a few last minute requests for the break music, and she graciously accommodated them. If you are considering a live band for your event or wedding, do yourself a favor go check them out live at one of their many regular engagements! We were already wedded (haha) to having some live music for the ceremony and cocktail hour, and their prices were extremely competitive compared to those of a short engagement band and typical DJ. Our reception was made SO SO SO much better with their live music and energy. Any wedding DJ can play the same top 40 hits for your reception, but none can compare to the enthusiasm, musical talent, and pure JOY that you will experience with Hella Fitzgerald at the helm.