What started with a random meeting between a violinist and an accordionist at a lunchtime jam session ended 15 years later as a polished quintet with Brynn Albanese on violin, Duane Inglish on accordion, Craig Nuttycombe on guitar, Eric Williams on all-things-with-strings and Fred Murray on double bass. The ensemble has performed throughout the state and overseas. Local performances occurred everywhere in the county including big and small stages alike. From performing with symphonies on big stages to seat-of-the-pants performances at the smallest of rooms tucked away in art galleries, the band loved a live audience. In fact, the Steynberg Gallery in San Luis Obispo was a long time favorite haunt and played a big role in helping the band find confidence with their performances.
A definite highlight in the quintet's career was when four of their arranged tunes were orchestrated by Brad Dechter and Tim Simonec, renowned orchestrators known for scoring many major Hollywood movies. The pieces were performed several times featuring the band as guest artists for local symphonies.
Cafe Musiqué was also popular on the festival scene having performed at the Live Oak, Strawberry, Millpond and California Worldfest music festivals several times over the years. It was not unusual for the band to perform on New Year's Eve with the San Luis Obispo Symphony, then play at someone's living room birthday party, perform at one of the local senior centers and then fly overseas to perform on a riverboat excursion on a majestic European river. .
The ensemble traveled extensively throughout the state and garnered thousands of new fans in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, Carmel Valley, Monterey, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley by performing at everything from performing art centers, churches, synagogues, community centers, night clubs, coffee shops and house concerts.
Most recently the ensemble has performed at Santa Cruz's historic Kuumbwa Jazz Center and Carmel Valley's esteemed Hidden Valley Music Seminars concert series. It's been quite a ride.