Alex Donner
Band Leader

Where did you get your start?
I got my start 20 years ago. I always had a band in college. I became a divorce lawyer, but had a job as the band leader at El Morocco. I was hired by a divorce client to play their second wedding in India. Town & Country did a story about it and my switchboard started to ring off the hook. I knew then, to go full time with the band.

How have your audiences changed over the years?
Musical tastes have gone from big band swing to classic rock to Motown to contemporary and Latin. We’re adaptable – we can do all of that in one night!

What have you learned about throwing a good party?
The band leader needs to read the crowd.

What gets you excited about going to work?
Every event is opening night. I like good energy. People enjoy the right mix of music. It makes the cake rise.

We play over 100 jobs a year. It’s always different – we have an assortment of bands and it’s great fun for me to mix and match the players.

What influences your music during an event?

I take a few things into consideration:

I look the dancers’ feet, if they are moving faster than the music – we need to change the tempo or genre. Also – I check the movement onto and off the dance floor.

Recently, we played a wedding in New Canaan, where the bride and groom and their parents had planned that we would play nothing but classics, like Cole Porter all night. As time passed, I knew the crowd needed a change – their feet were moving too fast for the music – so I checked with the bride and she agreed – we played Rock & Roll and Motown. They loved it!