West Michigan Wine & Jazz Festival Showcase

Giancarlo Aversa, piano
Wesley Fritemeier, drums
Ross Huff, trumpet
Brennan Andes, bass

​Originally “Giancarlo and the Wedding Rehearsal Band,” the group formed to play cocktail jazz at wedding receptions. On Valentine’s Day of 2013, the demand for sophisticated and eclectic musical entertainment created an opening for the band at The Last Word, a speakeasy in Ann Arbor. The Pherotones have held a Thursday residency ever since.

The original group, organized by master mixologist Giancarlo Aversa on piano, includes Wesley Fritzemeier on drums, Brennan Andes on bass, and Ross Huff on trumpet. The Pherotones now feature virtuoso fiddler Jordan Adema on violin as they present stirring renditions of songs from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood, television and pop radio as well as celebrating the song book of Black American Music, funk, salsa, and rock and roll. Poet and journalist Arwulf Arwulf wrote of the band’s qualities, “rambunctious creativity, positive vibes.”