Garden Music Recommendations

• By Michael Endelman and Emma Pearce
• Published Winter 2006

Le Quatuor DuCette

STRING QUARTET
Ralph Farris leads this elegant ensemble and will create custom arrangements for your big day. He's a founding member of Ethel, "New York's hippest bunch of vibrating strings," and leads the Farris Fiddles, a merry band of violinists who play jazz, Broadway classics, and ragtime. (from $3000; 212-452-2548).—E.P.

Darius Kaufmann

BAGPIPES
Clad in traditional Scottish garb, Kaufmann will take you down the aisle with "Here Comes the Bride," then deep into the dancing hours. He's a seasoned piper with a full repertoire of folk songs, jigs and reels who's toured with Sinead O'Connor (from $750; through Grey Entertainment; grey-entertainment.com).—E.P.

The Cobble Hillbillies

BLUEGRASS
The Cobble Hillbillies are six handsome, Brooklyn buddies with "razor-sharp chops" for classic bluegrass and country. Their music is mostly old school, but they also have their own repertoire of what they call urban bluegrass. Regular gig makers around New York bars, they bring all the down-home friendliness of this earthy musical tradition (from $1,500; cobblehillbillies.com).—E.P.

Paul Shapiro

JAZZ
Shapiro is as versatile as they come. You might know him from "Midnight Minyan," one of his albums on John Zorn's Tzadik label or the Cornelia Street Café, where he plays "kosher-style blues" with his Ribs & Briskit band. His jazz cap fits best for weddings; he plays saxophone, flute and clarinet as part of a six-piece (from $4,000; through Grey Entertainment: 212-242-8780).—E.P.

Choro Ensemble

CHORO
Flexible enough to play the ceremony and cocktail hour, this multinational quintet specializes in a delicate style of 19th-century Brazilian music called choro, which sounds a bit like Dixieland jazz with a South American sway (from $2,500; choroensemble.com).—M.E.