THE UPTOWN STANDARD
Uptown to last call

Old New York sophistication, brought to Nashville. A wedding isn't the place for generic. The Uptown Standard is elegant acoustic ceremony music, a cocktail hour that actually has taste, a band that knows how to build a night instead of just filling one — and someone at the mic who can command a room with the confidence your day deserves.

This isn't a wedding band for hire. It's a curated standard — and it's not for everyone. That's the point.

What It Is

Nashville's wedding scene defaults to casual. That's fine for most couples. It's not fine for all of them.

The Uptown Standard exists for the ones who want something else — the kind of refined, unapologetic elegance that used to be the standard in New York's grand ballrooms.

Jay Bragg performed over 100 weddings across New England and New York before ever setting foot in Nashville — leading bands, coordinating the day's key entertainment moments, and bringing a confident, non-traditional sophistication that couples remember years later. This isn't a borrowed aesthetic. It's where he actually learned the craft. The Uptown Standard brings that experience to a city that's never had it.

What's Included

  • Ceremony — elegant acoustic music from arrival through processional and recessional

  • Cocktail Hour — a curated live set with real taste, not background noise

  • MC Work — the day's key moments announced with actual command: toasts, first dance, cake cutting, grand entrance

  • The Full Arc — a band that starts jazzy and builds through the night, ending at full last-call energy

  • Light Coordination — helping sequence the day's entertainment moments alongside your planner or venue

The Song List

A repertoire of nearly 150 songs, built to move the way a night actually moves.

Cocktail Hour & Ceremony

Classic jazz and swing standards — Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, the American Songbook.

Dinner

Classic and vocal pop — Etta James, Elton John, the songs that let a room exhale.

First Dance

Soul, R&B, and Motown — Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder.

The Turn

Funk and dance — where the room stands up.

Last Call

Rock and roll, full volume, the arc complete.

You choose 20 must-plays. Everything else is curated — matched to your taste and the room, the way a program is built rather than a set list is filled.

Range beyond the list — ask, and it'll be woven in.

Is This You?

The Uptown Standard isn't for every wedding, and it isn't trying to be.

If you want a band that will play anything on request, take song suggestions from every table, and blend into the background — this isn't that.

If you want a wedding that sounds and feels the way the best rooms in old New York used to — refined, a little edgy, never generic — the song list will tell you everything you need to know.

Booking

Inquire about your date.

jay@jaybragg.com

The Songlist

Cocktail Hour & Ceremony — Classic Jazz & Swing Standards

  • Fly Me to the Moon  —  Sinatra

  • Come Fly With Me  —  Sinatra

  • The Way You Look Tonight  —  Sinatra

  • I've Got You Under My Skin  —  Sinatra

  • That's Amore  —  Dean Martin

  • You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You  —  Dean Martin

  • Sway  —  Dean Martin

  • All of Me  —  American Songbook standard

  • Unforgettable  —  Nat King Cole

  • L-O-V-E  —  Nat King Cole

  • Beyond the Sea  —  Bobby Darin

  • Over the Rainbow  —  Judy Garland

  • Mack the Knife  —  Bobby Darin

  • Cheek to Cheek  —  Fred Astaire

  • It Had to Be You  —  American Songbook standard

  • Come Rain or Come Shine  —  American Songbook standard

  • Autumn Leaves  —  American Songbook standard

  • Dream a Little Dream of Me  —  American Songbook standard

  • Moon River  —  Andy Williams

  • What a Wonderful World  —  Louis Armstrong

  • La Vie en Rose  —  Louis Armstrong

  • Georgia on My Mind  —  Ray Charles

  • On the Sunny Side of the Street  —  American Songbook standard

  • Ain't Misbehavin'  —  American Songbook standard

  • You Make Me Feel So Young  —  Sinatra

  • Someone to Watch Over Me  —  American Songbook standard

  • You've Got a Friend in Me  —  Randy Newman

  • Let's Fall in Love  —  American Songbook standard

Dinner — Classic & Vocal Pop

  • Make You Feel My Love  —  Adele

  • At Last  —  Etta James

  • Can't Help Falling in Love  —  Elvis Presley

  • I'm Yours  —  Jason Mraz

  • Stand By Me  —  Ben E. King

  • I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song  —  Jim Croce

  • Just the Way You Are  —  Billy Joel

  • Wildflowers  —  Tom Petty

  • Forever and Ever, Amen  —  Randy Travis

  • Starting Over  —  Chris Stapleton

  • Your Song  —  Elton John

  • Moondance  —  Van Morrison

  • Danny's Song  —  Loggins & Messina

  • Something to Talk About  —  Bonnie Raitt

  • Wonderful Tonight  —  Eric Clapton

  • When You Say Nothing at All  —  Keith Whitley

  • In My Life  —  The Beatles

  • Isn't She Lovely  —  Stevie Wonder

  • I Only Have Eyes for You  —  The Flamingos

  • The Very Thought of You  —  American Songbook standard

  • Unchained Melody  —  The Righteous Brothers

  • Every Breath You Take  —  The Police

  • Sea of Love  —  Phil Phillips

  • When I'm Sixty-Four  —  The Beatles

  • I Cross My Heart  —  George Strait

  • Ho Hey  —  The Lumineers

  • Thinking Out Loud  —  Ed Sheeran

  • A Sunday Kind of Love  —  Etta James

  • Come Away With Me  —  Norah Jones

  • The Way I Am  —  Ingrid Michaelson

First Dance — Soul, R&B & Motown

  • My Girl  —  The Temptations

  • Ain't No Mountain High Enough  —  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

  • Let's Stay Together  —  Al Green

  • You Are the Sunshine of My Life  —  Stevie Wonder

  • Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay  —  Otis Redding

  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg  —  The Temptations

  • Hold On, I'm Comin'  —  Sam & Dave

  • I Want You Back  —  Jackson 5

  • Dancing in the Street  —  Martha and the Vandellas

  • Uptight (Everything's Alright)  —  Stevie Wonder

  • Respect  —  Aretha Franklin

  • Ain't No Sunshine  —  Bill Withers

  • Lovely Day  —  Bill Withers

  • Lean on Me  —  Bill Withers

  • How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)  —  Marvin Gaye

  • Kiss  —  Prince

  • You've Really Got a Hold on Me  —  Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

  • Let's Get It On  —  Marvin Gaye

  • What's Going On  —  Marvin Gaye

  • I Say a Little Prayer  —  Aretha Franklin

  • Reasons  —  Earth, Wind & Fire

  • Sir Duke  —  Stevie Wonder

  • Higher Ground  —  Stevie Wonder

The Turn — Funk, Dance & a Wink of Country

  • September  —  Earth, Wind & Fire

  • Low Rider  —  War

  • I Got You (I Feel Good)  —  James Brown

  • Superstition  —  Stevie Wonder

  • Valerie  —  Amy Winehouse

  • Play That Funky Music  —  Wild Cherry

  • Easy  —  Commodores

  • Don't Worry, Be Happy  —  Bobby McFerrin

  • Celebration  —  Kool & The Gang

  • Brick House  —  Commodores

  • Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)  —  Parliament

  • Uptown Funk  —  Bruno Mars

  • I Wanna Dance with Somebody  —  Whitney Houston

  • Shut Up and Dance  —  Walk the Moon

  • Ring of Fire  —  Johnny Cash

  • Islands In The Stream  —  Dolly Parton

  • On The Road Again - Willie Nelson

  • Hey Good Lookin'  —  Hank Williams

  • 9 to 5  —  Dolly Parton

  • Friends in Low Places  —  Garth Brooks

Last Call — Rock & Roll

  • Footloose  —  Kenny Loggins

  • I'm a Believer  —  The Monkees

  • You May Be Right  —  Billy Joel

  • Sweet Caroline  —  Neil Diamond

  • Wake Me Up  —  Avicii

  • Wonderwall  —  Oasis

  • Twist and Shout  —  The Beatles

  • I Will Survive  —  Gloria Gaynor

  • The Power of Love  —  Huey Lewis & The News

  • Hey Ya!  —  OutKast

  • Miss You  —  The Rolling Stones

  • Santeria  —  Sublime

  • 500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)  —  The Proclaimers

  • Mustang Sally  —  Wilson Pickett

  • Dancing in the Dark  —  Bruce Springsteen

  • Down Under  —  Men at Work

  • Old Time Rock and Roll  —  Bob Seger

  • Take It Easy  —  Eagles

  • Brown Eyed Girl  —  Van Morrison

  • American Girl  —  Tom Petty

  • Crazy  —  Gnarls Barkley

  • Running Down a Dream  —  Tom Petty

  • Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da  —  The Beatles

  • Mary Jane's Last Dance  —  Tom Petty

  • Hard to Handle  —  The Black Crowes

  • Shout  —  The Isley Brothers

  • Sweet Home Alabama  —  Lynyrd Skynyrd

  • Blister in the Sun  —  Violent Femmes

  • Free Fallin'  —  Tom Petty

  • Land of 1000 Dances  —  Wilson Pickett

  • Proud Mary  —  Tina Turner

  • Signed, Sealed, Delivered (reprise, full band)  —  Stevie Wonder

  • Shout (full band closer)  —  The Isley Brothers