The Atlantic Ensemble is a tight knit family
An authentic musical experience reserved for those with a uniquely sensitive ear and refined musical taste
Our Family of Musicians
Meet the musicians that make up the East Coast Soul family.
Video
East Coast Soul: The Atlantic Ensemble (Live)
East Coast Soul: The Atlantic Ensemble (Live on a HOT Night in August!)
Configurations
Check out the multiple, flexible ways to get East Coast Soul involved at your wedding
Ten Piece: |
Vocalist |
Vocalist |
Vocalist |
Horn |
Horn |
Horn |
Keys |
Bass |
Drums |
Guitar |
Nine Piece: |
Vocalist |
Vocalist |
Vocalist or Horn |
Horn |
Horn |
Keys |
Bass |
Drums |
Guitar |
|
Eight Piece: |
Vocalist |
Vocalist |
Vocalist or Horn |
Horn |
Keys |
Bass |
Drums |
Guitar |
||
Seven Piece: |
Vocalist |
Vocalist |
Horn |
Keys |
Bass |
Drums |
Guitar |
Frequently Asked Questions
Great question. There’s a few factors that we feel can contribute to the decision of which size ensemble to go with:
- Your Vision: We think this is the biggest factor. Essentially, when you envision the band at your wedding, what kind of ensemble are you seeing? Is it bigger, with a bunch of horns and vocalists bouncing around, or is it a little smaller to perhaps align with a tighter venue space, smaller guest list, etc? That should be your first litmus test, and generally can provide some initial benchmarks to compare against.
- Your Budget: We sometimes say that’s it’s not about the money, but it’s not *not* about the money, haha — budget is an unavoidable decision-making factor, and the size of the ensemble is one of the biggest aspects in terms of price. Comparing your budget against our pricing, keeping in mind the potential for travel and ceremony charges and travel, is not a bad idea. Though we can also say, your guests will remember us a lot more than they’ll remember your flowers, lolz
- Your Guest List (?): We actually find that guest list size isn’t, or doesn’t have to be, a huge factor in terms of ensemble size. We’ve carried out performances for some of our smallest guest counts with some of our largest ensemble configurations (a ten piece ensemble for a 40 person wedding — yep, that happened! Haha). Likewise, some of our largest audiences were juxtaposed with our smaller/smallest configurations (college festival with a smaller budget – 2,500 kids in attendance, and a seven-piece ensemble!). So we generally don’t recommend this be your primary decision-making factor. That said, at the extremes we just mentioned, it can feel a little “top-heavy”, haha — feel free to ask us about this if you have any questions!
Some other information for you to consider:
- Our eight-piece ensemble tends to be our most utilized ensemble configuration. We find this tends to be a nice sweet spot in terms of space, ensemble size, and budget. The option for three vocalists also allows sharing of lead singer duties, which translates to the need for shorter break(s) — always a good thing. If you’re not sure where to start in terms of band size, start here, and see how things line up for you.
- We can also book the smaller/smallest ensemble you’re considering right now, and add musicians later. It’s true. If you’re considering the nine or ten piece, for example, we can lock in nine pieces now, let your budget and other decisions take shape, then revisit the idea of adding a musician closer to your date. If you’ve got the bandwidth, great! If not, you know you’ve got a killer ensemble lined up already.
- All our ensembles sizes kick ass. Don’t worry if your budget or preferences is leading you towards a smaller ensemble size. Nothing is lost in terms of dance-ability, fullness of sound, etc. Each configuration is tried and true, and all have been a part of absolutely epic dance parties. You’re in great hands regardless of the number of musicians, so don’t hesitate to be conservative here. We can always revisit the idea of more players later, and either way, you’ve got an incredible ensemble lined up! The other thing to consider, is that your guests won’t be aware that there was an option between 8, 9, or 10 pieces. All they’ll see upon arrival is a kickass band or probably at *least* seven or eight pieces, which will probably be bigger than most of the bands you’d see out and about anyways!
Great question. We have our most common configuration suggestions listed below:
- Seven Piece:
- Two Vocalists
- One Horn
- *Four Piece Rhythm Section
- Eight Piece:
- Two to Three Vocalists
- One to Two Horns
- *Four Piece Rhythm Section
- Nine Piece:
- Two to Three Vocalists
- Two to Three Horns
- *Four Piece Rhythm Section
- Ten Piece:
- Three Vocalists
- Three Horns
- *Four Piece Rhythm Section
The ranges here are designed to show that each ensemble can alter its configuration slightly depending on your personal preference. However, it’s important to note that we do firm this up in our potential contract, so there won’t be any grey area once we hit the potential stage of locking things in.
The reason for this: some folks are particularly excited about horns/brass arrangements, while others are particularly excited for vocal harmony, and the energy that multiple singers can bring. All options represent powerhouse configurations that will deliver an epic performance!
*Follow up question: “What is a rhythm section?” In East Coast Soul, we refer to the rhythm section as bass, drums, keys and guitar. In general, we strongly recommend all four of these pieces be in place for any given performance. Bass and drums together represent the foundation of the sound, with keys and guitar working together to fill up the sonic space, play signature parts, support horn lines, etc. Removing one of these is an option in the most extreme situations of limited space, budgets, etc. but is something we recommend against if at all possible.
This is a very common question/concern. However, we’ve found that East Coast Soul is more comfortable squishing larger numbers of musicians into a smaller area that you might think possible. Generally we find the following (rectangular) stage areas are a good place to start the stage plot process, but we are flexible on this:
- 18 ft2 to 24 ft2 per band member
- 140 ft2 to 240 ft2 for the whole band
That leaves you with anywhere from 10 ft. by 14 ft. to 12 ft by 20 ft. area, depending on the ensemble. This is more of a rough guideline, but nonetheless, here’s a rundown of each ensemble’s recommended sizes:
- 10 Pieces:
- Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 18 ft.
- Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 20 ft.
- 9 Pieces:
- Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 16 ft.
- Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 18 ft.
- 7/8 Pieces:
- Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 14 ft.
- Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 16 ft.
Note: the seven and eight piece stage areas are roughly the same, since the presence or lack of an additional horn player or singer won’t change the footprint significantly
Recent Performances
Check out photos, testimonials, and more from recent Atlantic Ensemble performances
An exquisite July wedding at the Harrington Farm in Princeton, MA where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble definitely made some new best friends!
A lovely June wedding at the The Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble laid down an unforgettable performance!
A charming June wedding at the River Road Farm in Manchester, VT where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble brought the house down!
A charming June wedding at the Private Residence in Sunderland, VT where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble had an amazing time!
An incredible June wedding at the Private Residence in Nantucket, MA where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble just crushed it!
An unreal October wedding at the An Affair By the Lake in Addison, VT where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble left everything out on the dance floor!
An unbelievable June wedding at the The Barn at Smugglers’ Notch in Jeffersonville, VT where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble had a funky good time that won't soon be forgotten!
An incredible October wedding at the Waterville Valley in Waterville Valley, NH where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble had a tough time saying goodbye to this particular group of guests!
Testimonials
Our clients say it better than we ever could. Check out our most recent testimonials below.
"My husband and I got married 8.20.22 at WWC in Plymouth and hired the Atlantic Ensemble as our band. There are no words for how incredible they were - our guests are still raving about them! From start to finish East Coast Soul worked with us every step of the way to ensure we were happy with the song selections and style of music. They rolled from one song into the next seamlessly and had everyone dancing all night long. If you can book them for your wedding - do it. You won’t have any regrets. Thank you again for such an incredible performance!"
Mary-Kate (Bride)
Plymouth, MA
August 20, 2022
"The Atlantic ensemble performed at our wedding and absolutely killed it!! Everyone was on the dance floor all night, guests couldn't stop talking about how good the band was, we couldn't be happier with our choice. We had live music during our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. Working with ECS was so easy, they were on top of everything and didn't miss a single detail. 10/10!"
Maggie (Bride)
Manchester, VT
June 25, 2022
"We absolutely loved our band. They were easy and professional to work with in the lead up phase. Their professional approach allowed us to answer all of the questions in the lead-up to the event. The performance was A+. The dance floor was packed for the entire whole evening and we got lots of positive feedback from all of our family and friends. Exactly what we wanted. We would hire them again in a heartbeat."
Pauline (Bride)
Sugar Hill, NH
August 15, 2021
"The Atlantic Ensemble at East Coast Soul performed at our wedding in Stowe, Vermont - three weeks later and we are still getting comments about how amazing the band was! And we couldn't agree more! Art and Sean of ECS were so easy to deal with leading up to the wedding - they sent us a detailed questionnaire which made planning a breeze, and they were very responsive to our questions and had tons of great suggestions about dance selections, timing, etc. The cocktail hour music was great and relaxing. We had a pretty detailed list of requests for how we wanted our wedding party intros and the first song introduced, and the band nailed it. Incredible musicians all around. They kept the dance floor packed all night! We cannot recommend East Coast Soul enough!"
Tim (Groom)
Stowe, VT
June 26, 2021
"The wedding was “monumental” (one of our friend’s reactions) as the weather was fabulous, the ceremony was perfect, and all of our guests had a great time at the reception. ECS was a big part of that. We had friends asking for ECS contact information for future weddings and parties. ECS was very professional with the planning crew working with us all the way up to the day of. We had some unique requests as we had our children involved in performing during the ceremony and reception with the band. They all killed it and they had never practiced together before the performances. Our wedding venue was a bit tricky to navigate - had to take a gondola to the top of Mt. Mansfield - but the band got it done and was on time and ready to go for the ceremony and reception. The band sounded great and they had the guests dancing the entire time. They have an expansive playlist and chose from the genres and artists that we requested. The vocalists were fantastic and they got the guests involved. We were so happy that we went with a live band and so happy that we found East Coast Soul. We highly recommend them for weddings and parties / events - you will not be disappointed!"
Kelly (Bride)
Stowe, VT
October 12, 2019
"We had East Coast Soul-Atlantic play at our wedding in September. They were so easy to work with and made planning the musical portion of the evening super easy. We loved that they also played for the ceremony and during the cocktail hour! The reception was so much fun because the band picked amazing songs to play and kept everyone out on the dance floor!! Plus, they were the most reasonably priced band we looked at! Thanks for helping make our wedding so memorable!"
Beth (Bride)
Newport, RI
September 28, 2019
"Brought Down the House! Rodney, Carrie, and the band were incredible. We trusted them with playing our first dance, and they crushed it. The set list found the perfect balance to get both younger and older guests on the dance floor throughout the night. The only time they played a song that was not absolutely loved by our guests, they adapted and played an abbreviated version before transitioning to another song. We received innumerable compliments on the band, and a family member that is planning a wedding asked us for their contact information. In short, you cannot go wrong with this band!"
Ben (Groom)
Boylston, MA
August 24, 2019
"East Coast Soul's Atlantic Ensemble was absolutely INCREDIBLE! They were really responsive and easy to plan with, and their performance was top notch. Everyone who attended our wedding raved about how incredible the band was and that they'd never seen so many guests out on the dance floor at a wedding before. They played an epic hora which got every single guest out on the floor. They also did a wonderful job with music for our ceremony (solo guitarist) and cocktail hour (jazz duo). We can't say enough amazing things about East Coast Soul! Hire them now."
Sarah (Bride)
Becket, MA
September 1, 2018
"We hired East Coast Soul for our wedding. Fabulous music, great energy. The band obviously just loves to play and it comes through in their performance. They also handled the recorded music for our ceremony and played the piano and saxophone during cocktail hour. They had a flat rate for the whole night and were totally flexible with us when we had last minute changes, which we really appreciated! Art and Sean are so easy to work with and respond very quickly and provide a detailed questionnaire and rundown ahead of time. The saxophonist also did some amazing improv that had everyone clapping during the reception. It’s like getting a show! We highly recommend them!"
Alison (Bride)
Lincoln, MA
August 25, 2018
"East Coast Soul was amazing! It's all anyone wants to talk about when the subject of my wedding comes up--and we had a lot of other awesome things happen. They were so upbeat, easy to work with, and most importantly, entertaining! Not to mention they were the most affordable band I looked at (you work directly with them so no management company premium). HIGHLY recommend!"
Carly (Bride)
Lincoln, MA
September 3, 2017
"These musicians crushed it at our wedding! So many of our guests came up to us throughout the night to tell us how fabulous the band was. They were so easy to work with leading up to the wedding day, and they were happy to tailor the event to exactly how we wanted it. They were so energetic, talented, and passionate about their music, and they had everyone on the dance floor all night. We couldn't recommend them enough! We are so appreciative that they made the trip from Boston to NY to help make our wedding day so special!"