Only Jam

Only Jam is a live band collective of musicians and singers from the Geneva region, playing soul, funk and R&B. Its home page says the collective works "dans toute la Suisse de Lausanne à Zurich ainsi qu'en France voisine", across Switzerland from Lausanne to Zurich and in neighboring France, and lists weddings among the events it plays, alongside concerts, after-work events, private parties and corporate events. The line-up scales from a duo to a full band. The site is in French.

The music

The collective describes its members as coming from varied musical backgrounds such as gospel, funk and R&B, with the shared aim of performing the biggest titles of African-American music "dans un style très groovy". The presentation page puts the program more precisely: revisiting the great songs that have made people groove from the 90s to today. A line on the home page sums up the taste: "If the love doesn't feel like 90s R&B, I don't want it".

The influences are listed at length. On the soul and funk side: Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, Earth Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang and the Jackson 5. On the R&B side the list runs from Michael Jackson, Usher, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston to Destiny's Child, TLC, Bruno Mars, Drake and Beyoncé. The video page shows the kind of covers the band plays: "No Scrubs" by TLC, "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars, "Killing Me Softly" in the Lauryn Hill version, and "Never Too Much" by Luther Vandross. For a couple whose guests grew up on 90s R&B, that list is a clear indication of the dance floor to expect.

For concerts, the band adds original songs written by its members to its usual covers, and the page says those can be shared with a wider audience. At a wedding, the covers will be the core.

Line-ups for a wedding

The presentation page gives three example formats, each tied to a mood:

• a duo, piano and voice or guitar and voice, "pour un mood chill"
• a groovy quartet of 3 musicians plus a male or female singer, for a more festive atmosphere
• a full band of 4 musicians plus a male singer and a female singer, "pour une véritable performance et un dancefloor en folie", for a real performance and a dance floor gone wild

The services page adds a note on the duo: it is the ideal format for an aperitif, a dinner or an intimate evening, and plays "entre jazz et soul", between jazz and soul, to bring charm and elegance to the event. The home page's private events section, which names weddings, ceremonies and birthdays, refers to configurations of duo, trio and full band, so the mid-size format appears as a trio on one page and a quartet on another. A couple should confirm which it is when asking for a quote.

In practice, the duo fits the drinks reception and dinner, and the full band is the one built for dancing. A couple could reasonably ask whether a duo can play the aperitif and then grow into the full band later in the evening, though the site does not describe that combination.

How the band works

The presentation page puts improvisation at the center. It says the band's music is not fixed and that it gives a lot of weight to improvisation and adaptation, "car chaque lieu et chaque moment sont uniques", because every place and every moment is unique. The same paragraph adds that the audience listens to the artists, but the artist must also listen to the audience. The page also argues directly for live music over a DJ: the live setup leaves a lot of room for improvisation and pure energy and, in the band's view, conveys a range of emotions that a DJ set cannot match.

On experience, the page says all members have solid stage experience gained over years of practice internationally and in very different settings, and that this mix is what makes the collective rich in musical possibilities. The home page credits one cover video to Marina on vocals, Miasy on bass and Loic on keyboards. The site has a "Membres" section, but the page text names only those three.

Contact and booking

Inquiries go to onlyjam90@gmail.com or +41 76 570 73 20, and the contact page has a form. The contact text says that for any quote or information the band will work out with the client the musical line-up that fits the project, so every booking is quoted individually.

What the site does not settle

The site publishes no prices for any format, and no travel charges for the band's stated range from Lausanne to Zurich or into France. It gives no set lengths, breaks, setup time or technical needs, and does not say whether the band brings its own sound system and lights, which matters for the full band at a venue without house sound. There is nothing on deposits, cancellation or how far ahead to book.

Language is partly settled by the music. The repertoire is English-language soul and R&B, so English lyrics are the norm. The site itself is in French, and it does not say whether the singers can make announcements in English or whether the team corresponds in English, which a couple from abroad should ask in the first message. The private events section names ceremonies alongside weddings, but the site does not say what the band plays for one: whether the duo covers an entrance or signing, or which songs suit it.

Who it suits

Only Jam suits couples in the Geneva and Lausanne area, or further afield in the stated range, who want a live soul and R&B band instead of a DJ, with a duo for the aperitif and a full band with 2 singers for the party. A crowd that knows the 90s R&B catalog will get the most from it. The caveats are the absence of prices and the small amount of practical detail on the site, including the unclear mid-size format. Couples who want mainly background music all evening can book the duo, which the band itself positions for exactly that job.