One man band from New Jersey - singer Alexander Menshikov
One Man Band from Cliffside Park, New Jersey Alexander (or Sasha) is singing all over the United States since 1992. He was born in small town Bugulma in Tatarstan in 1964. Mr. Menshikov was a lead singer of hard-rock band "Black Coffee" and eccentric show group "BIM BOM" in Moscow, Russia. Alexander studied singing in The Gnesin's Academy of Russian music in Moscow, Russia. He performed on Soviet National TV and competed at the international singing competition "Step to Parnas".
Mr. Menshikov specializes in Russian-American private and corporate parties: weddings, jubilees, kid's parties. He provides high quality music entertainment in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and other states. He is also well-known as a soloist of Russian dance and music ensemble Barynya from New York. He is considered among his numerous fans as the best Russian Gypsy singer in the United States.
Alexander Menshikov usually brings alone his keyboard piano and portable sound system to small-size parties. For the bigger events he takes his own Russian-American Wedding band 5grand.us, MC Misha and DJ Barnaul.
Dancers and singers are also available upon request.
Wedding Celebration Testimonial
Dr. William & Mrs. Mariya Brendel, October 8, 2009
Before we even contacted Mikhail Smirnov (a.k.a. MC Misha) to be the Master of Ceremonies for our wedding this past September, we knew that we would be getting a wonderful celebrity personality since we’d already fallen in love with his humor as a judge on the NBC show “Superstars of Dance.” From the moment Mikhail answered our phone call, we also knew that we were in the great care of a true professional, masterful organizer, and patient soul. We’re writing to share our story of how Mikhail not only “met” but “exceeded” our great expectations for a memorable wedding reception.
Like any picky couple, we wanted to add a few key songs to our wedding play list. Not only did Misha add these songs to the play list, but his D.J. (Barnaul) picked up immediately on the style and tone of these songs and added music to complement our taste perfectly.
What’s more, even though we couldn’t afford a band, Misha surprised us with three professional singers. The first singer (Alexander Menshikov), a handsome gentleman with an angelic and operatic voice requiring no microphone, sang several amazing ballads including Dark Eyes that turned this ordinary wedding into a banquet fit for a Tsar!
The second singer (Elena Harris) could best be described as a sultry, classic beauty, straight from a James Bond movie, who sang the jazz standard Summertime, which melted all single men in their seats. The third singer was Misha himself, who sang several Russian favorites straight from his heart has he strummed his guitar. This trio wove their talent throughout the night for a perfect personal touch to our wedding celebration. Guests were simply shocked.
We also wanted to make sure that our mix of Russian and American guests were guided in the right direction and made to feel comfortable throughout the night. As a myriad of guests entered the restaurant hall, they were met with a Misha’s classy and humorous greetings, which easily broke the ice between guests who did not know each other. Misha also provided Russian translation of speeches, and encouraged several guests to pay tribute to our special union. With his help, our wedding transcended the “mechanical order of events” associated with most receptions. Ours was a more intimate and heartwarming evening, in which friends and family shared stories, made toasts, and bonded with perfect strangers. Guests felt at home.
Finally, in planning our celebration we worried that the evening might “fizzle out” too soon as we’ve experienced in so many weddings we’ve attended. If you are working with Misha, you can be assured that your evening will only escalate with joy, excitement, and wonderment. Just when we thought it couldn’t get better, a person in costume resembling a larger-than-life gypsy woman appeared, and a playful gypsy song accompanied her across the floor as she danced and flirted with guests! People literally fell out of their seats with laughter, and the children sat still with magic in their eyes. Other surprise guests appeared, but I’ll stop my description now as not to spoil the surprise! Later in the evening, D.J. Barnaul hosted a Russian dance competition, also teaching guests how to do several traditional folk dances. Guests experienced an enchanted evening.
Thank you, Mikhail and team for going “above and beyond” in making our wedding celebration truly unforgettable. We’ve enclosed some pictures, which we feel “speak louder than words” in describing how amazing this evening was.
"Letter To Mother", lyrics by Russian poet Sergey Esenin
Videoclip dedicated to memory of famous Russian poet Sergey Esenin was made by Simbirtsev Dmitriy. Song "Letter To Mother" performance by Alexander Menshikov was selected as the best interpretation of Esenin's lyrics.
Sunday, August 31st, 2008. The Bernards Inn. 27 Mine Brook Road, Bernardsville, New Jersey 07924
Мы хотели бы вас поблагодарить за прекрасный праздник который вы нам организовали на нашей свадьбе 31го Августа. Мы очень долго искали подходящих музыкантов для нашего торжества но никто не подошёл с таким знанием дела как вы. Вы сделали всё как обещали : приехали посмотрели на место, проработали сценарий вечера, вовремя приехали в день свадьбы, свадьба велась на русском и на английском языках, оборудование отлично работало и вся ваша команда (DJ Барнаул, скрипач Александр, певец Александр Меньшиков и Михаил Смирнов как MC) работали на все 100%. Мы хотели душевного праздника с элементами русских свадебных традиций и вы превзошли наши ожидания. Ваши народные костюмы, обряд с караваем, песня "Чарочка", русские народные песни, костюмированные представления "Цыганки" и "Медведя" и романсы сделали вечер просто незабываемым.
Спасибо Александру Меньшикову. Прекрасный певец. Он способен исполнять песни в любом жанре и на любом языке.
Мы очень рады что выбрали Вас быть частью нашего праздника. Ваши низкие цены никак не идут в сравнение с уровнем вашего профессионализма.
Спасибо вам огромное,
Катерина и Владимир
(contact info is available)
October 21, 2007. Brooklake country Club, Floram Park, New Jersey
I just want to thank your band for being so great. I hired you because I saw you perform at my friend’s wedding last year and I really liked you. Everyone was impressed with your performance at my wedding and you truly made it special giving me a variety of music-anything from Italian, American to great popular Russian songs. Sasha is easy to deal with and is very flexible. He made sure everyone was enjoying the music and dancing. The violinist is very talented and he was simply amazing! The dancers were great, the singers could sing a variety of things and had great voices. The show was very good. Thanks so much for everything! I am highly recommending you to anyone who needs a band/show at their special event!
Elina Babayan
Wedding Palace "The Chanticler" 500 Millburn Avenue, Short Hills, New Jersey, September 9th, 2007
