Angel Band

All bands start somewhere and the story of that beginning usually has great influence on the end result……. the music. The best music, for many of us, comes from the purest beginning, which is the love of playing and singing. Angel Band comes from just such a place.

Angel Band is the result of some of the best area musicians getting together to jam on a regular basis at a small café in Wilmington, Delaware. These weekly jams came together originally because David Bromberg wanted to explore the possibility of bringing live, creative music back to a downtown that had once been thriving musically. The expectation was modest, but the results weren’t. Week after week the players came from further and further away until some of the area’s finest musicians could be found sitting in on any given night. That Angel Band would be born of this informal musical endeavor gave further endorsement to the idea that the best music comes naturally when great players gather.

David’s wife, Nancy Josephson, came to the jams occasionally and found the opportunity to sing whenever others might be there to join in. Eventually, accidentally, there was Angel Band and as the players and the singers moved to and fro Nancy began thinking about something more permanent. She felt that there was enough fun and spirit in the project to look a bit deeper for something that would continue to grow and evolve, so an effort was made to find singers and players that would commit to building a cohesive band over the long run. To that end, Jen Schonwald and Kathleen Weber joined Angel Band in 2006, and the year was off to a fast start with the group debuting as part of the “An Evening of American Acoustic Music” tour with the David Bromberg Quartet, The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet and King Wilkie. The brief tour concluded with a standing room only show at BB King’s in New York City. With confirmed appearances at Merlefest 2006 and a headline show at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware, the group appears to have made some significant early progress toward getting the music out to a wider audience. Angel Band will also provide support on the upcoming David Bromberg Big Band reunion tour and there are plans for some exciting collaborations with other artists on the national touring scene through all of 2006.

So listen without prejudice or pre conceived notions and you will hear these three voices combine to create a truly joyful noise. Let the singing, the playing, the fun and the spirit shine a wonderful light on the music and all who listen.