FAQ's

What are your rates? How far will you travel? Who Are Some of Your Music Clients? Who Are Some of Your Magic Clients? What Kind Of Music Do You Guys Play? Does One of You Teach Piano? Do Any of You Tune Pianos? The Grab Bag – Entertaining Emails Does the Band Take Requests? What are your rates? We have no flat rate because there is a huge difference between the complexity of a simple, forty-five minute magic show, and a production requiring weeks of rehearsal, or a local trip versus one to Europe, or booking just a pianist, versus a sixteen piece band. Our least expensive service is $250, which is for a local, small-group, private party not held during the high season. How far will you travel? We wil go anywhere, though of course we charge modest travel fees outside the immediate area. Who Are Some of Your Music Clients? A List of Clients Includes: The Junior League of San Francisco Mill Valley Film Festival Academy Awards Fundraiser, Napa Louis M. Martini Winery, St. Helena The Old River Inn, Petaluma Downtown Festival, Napa Cultural Ctr., Mattersburg, Austria Various Clubs, Vienna, Austria Hill & Co. Real Estate, San Francisco March of Dimes Fundraiser, San Francisco Yale Club of San Francisco Who Are Some of Your Magic Clients? A List of Clients Includes: Cisco Systems, San Jose Peninsula Symphony, Palo Alto Metropolitan Club, San Francisco San Francisco Symphony's Holiday Program, Deck the Halls Chabot Space & Science Center Redwood City Libraries Why Kind Of Music Do You Guys Play? We proudly play music from "The Great American Songbook" including tunes composed or performed by Irving Berlin, Ella Fitzgerald, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Billie Holiday, Loesser, Louis Armstrong, Diana Krall, Gershwin, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Hammerstein, Thelonious Monk, Jerome Kern, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ray Charles, Harold Arlen, Wynton Marsalis and hundreds of other composers and performers. The styles of music we play have one thing in common, in that we are improvising on the basic tune. Sometimes we are thinking of a famous Miles Davis recording we all know and love, and imitating an aspect of it (for example, opening with the same "hook" – a musical idea), and sometimes we’re making it up from scratch, or based on something we’ve been hashing out in rehearsal. The styles of music we play include: Afro-Cuban Be-Bop Bossa Nova Fusion Hard-Bop Latin Popular Piano Solo Jazz Piano Straight-Ahead Jazz Swing Does One of You Teach Piano? In a word, yes. Please contact us for further information at 415 922-5446. Do Any of You Tune Pianos? In a word, no. Just as you probably drive, you probably don’t fix your car, unless you’re a hobbyist. Tuning pianos is a trade, typically requiring three years of study and apprenticeship to begin to become competent. The Grab Bag – Entertaining Emails Hi Guys, I’m confused – Kevin does music and Ash does magic? Confused In The City * * * Dear Confused, From Kevin: That’s right. I play the piano, in any combination of other musicians or solo, and Ash does the magic stuff. From Ashkenazi: That’s "Ashkenazi," NOT, "Ash". It’s not a stupid English name that you chop off because you’re too lazy to say the whole thing. From Kevin: Please ignore him. He’s a little touchy about certain matters. Dear Ashkenazi, You look like Kevin with a moustache. Sincerely, Observant Gal * * * Dear OG, You insult me, Madame. My secretary will be in touch shortly to arrange a duel. Ashkenazi the Pretty Good * * * Dear OG, I’d apologize to him first, then me. In the meantime mom, lay off. Kevin Dear Ashkenazi the Pretty Good, Do you listen to Garrison Keilor’s radio show, and where are you from? Yours truly, Inquiring Minds Want To Know * * * Dear IMWTK, I do not listen to rock music, nor any other of what you call "American Culture." I am from a small, dignified, Eastern European kingdom that now has a Kmart & McDonalds where my grandfather’s sponsor the Duke used to have his castle. It is very depressing. Sincerely, Ashkenazi the Pretty Good * * * Dear IMWTK, I apologize for Ash. It’s sort of a full time job for me. Regards, Kevin Does the Band Take Requests? Just tell us what you’d like to hear prior to the event so we can rehearse it, and we’ll take care of you.