Meet Our Mandolin Musicians

Mandolin Magic provides outstanding mandolinists and accompanists for your Los Angeles area wedding or special event. All are graduates of the finest music conservatories in the country and they love to play!

Read more about our fantastic musicians below:

Chris Murphy

Chris Murphy, Artistic Director

Violin/Mandolin/Fiddle

Chris is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He has played professionally since 1993. He has studied classical violin with Peter Kaman of the Seattle Symphony, jazz violin with Matt Glaser and Julie Liberman, and Indian violin with L. Shankar. He is a composer and session musician, has eight solo albums of original music exploring jazz, bluegrass, blues, and ethnic violin music. In 2002 Chris started The Wine and Roses Wedding Band and has performed hundreds of successful weddings with that ensemble.

Edgar Sandoval

Edgar Sandoval received his Bachelors of Music from California State University Northridge and has been studying the violin since age 11. His most influencial teachers are Anita Thomason (Culver City), North Wood (Pasadena), Ludmila Adzhemova (West Hollywood), Barry Socher (Beverly Hills), Mary Kim (Northridge), Michael Ferril (Northridge) and Assa Drori (Hollywood). A native of Los Angeles, Edgar has been fortunate to get immediate attention from local orchestral and recording contractors after only 2 years of playing the violin. Alongside his gigging experience he has been featured on Disney’s 2002 reality television show “Totally in Tune” expressing the lives of students in a high school orchestra at a premiere music academy. Edgar’s orchestral experience includes: The American Youth Symphony with Kent Nagano conducting at Royce Hall (May 2005), Debut Orchestra with John Williams conducting at the Beverly Hilton (October 2004), Debut Orchestra with Michael Tilson-Thomas at Walt Disney Hall (January 2005), Pasadena “Pops” Orchestra, Santa Monica Symphony, Torrance Symphony at the Armstrong Theater, Southeast Symphony, Golden State Pops Orchestra at the Warner Grand Theater, Riverside County Philharmonic, San Bernardino Symphony at the Redlands Bowl, and tours with MESTO (Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra). Edgar is an acclaimed chamber musician as well a composer for film and serious works. His most recent movie score credits include “Amercian Crude” with Rob Schneider and “The Book of Tomorrow.”

Tom Corbett

After years of earning respect from peers and audiences for playing behind better-known artists, noted mandolinist/guitarist Tom Corbett stepped into the spotlight as bandleader and songwriter with his warmly received 2001 solo album Upstairs at Charlie’s. Since then, while remaining a popular sideman, he’s become a frequent presence as frontman of his own well-regarded trio on the coffeehouse, listening room and house concert circuits. Now, with his second album, Cloudless Blue Sky, he’s further establishing himself as one of the most versatile acoustic artists on the West Coast Americana scene.

Benedikt Brydern

Benedikt Brydern is an award-winning composer and performer. His scores have been featured in film, television and on the concert stage in the United Sates and internationally. From the Miramax documentary “Rhyme & Reason” to independent films like “Dunsmore,” directed by Academy Nominee Peter Spirer, from Jon Voight’s children tale “The Tin Soldier” to the mysterious “Outpatient” (starring Justin Kirk), whether using traditional orchestral or electronic techniques. He contributed music to USA’s mini-series “Spartacus” and worked on blockbusters like “Entrapment” and “Urban Legend” with composer Christopher Young.

Having been a violin child protégé since age 6 he now holds a masters degree in performance and performs regularly with local symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles. He has concertized and recorded with Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti, Etta James, Sinead O’Connor, and many others.

He specializes in old time jazz and swing and performs on a historic 1910 Stroh-violin, introducing music from the 1910s, 20s and 30s to new audiences. He also pays tribute to the genuine music of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. Performances include shows with folk legend Jim Kweskin and British hit-singer Ian Whitcomb. His love for Argentinean tango manifested in engagements with Dino Durand, Coco Trivisonno, Esther Segovia, Jose Luis “Pepe” Motta for various tango shows in the Los Angeles area.

As an arranger, orchestrator and producer he has worked with John O’Hurley (“Seinfeld,” “Dancing With The Stars”), violin stylist David Wilson, electric cellist Marston and many others.

Jason Myers

A native of New Jersey, Jason Myers has played music since early childhood. In his teens he switched over from piano and percussion to playing guitar as his main instrument. After studying with guitarist John Carlini (of the David Grisman band), he went to CalArts to earn a BA in music. A versitile player, he has found himself performing everything from jazz & popular music (Al McKibbon, “Tootie” Heath, Al Martino, Dave Carpenter, et al), zydeco (Kenny Menard), african highlife (Jimmy Fotso), hawaiian (King Kukulele), to funk and soul (the Electones). Myers also plays solo acoustic guitar and has an eclectic array of arrangements for the instrument, including early ragtime, eastern european folk, and Beatles tunes. He also plays the ukulele, banjo, lap steel guitar, and the cuatro. Teaching music is also a specialty, and he can be found at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music teaching guitar and ukulele.

Josh Jones

Josh Jones plays the acoustic upright bass as well as the electric bass guitar. Originally from North Hollywood, California, Josh has lived and performed all over southern California, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura counties. He is currently living in the city of Ventura. He studied jazz at San Diego State University and the California Institute of the Arts. Over the last fifteen years he has worked professionally with many different groups, playing a wide variety of musical styles including jazz, rock, blues, folk, and country. Currently he can be seen playing regularly with violinist Chris Murphy as well as country rock band 29 Mules.

Erik Kertes

Erik Kertes is a freelance bass player in LA, upright and electric bass all styles. He also likes to play other instruments and write songs. Erik is a graduate of the Thornton School Of Music of USC, where he studied jazz with John Clayton. Erik has recorded and toured with jazz singer Sara Gazarek, pop singer Josh Kelly and canadian crooner Michael Buble.

Ryan Feves

Ryan Feves was born and raised in Pendleton, Oregon. He began playing the violin when he was 3 years old, but later switched to upright and electric bass. It was in Portland, Oregon, during its era of jazz luminaries Red Mitchell, Leroy Vinnegar, and Andrew Hill, that Ryan first discovered Jazz and improvisational music. In 1995 Ryan moved to Los Angeles to attend California Institute of the Arts and studying jazz bass performance under the direction of Charlie Haden. Since Graduating from CalArts in 2000 with a B.F.A. in music performance, Ryan has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe while remaining in high demand for his work as a producer, musician, educator, and music engineering and technology consultant. Some of his most recent work includes appearances on recent albums by Eleni Mandell, Money Mark, and Joe Firstman. Mr. Feves is also a regular member of the house band on the NBC late night program “Last Call with Carson Daly.”

Donald James Bonebrake

Donald James Bonebrake (yes, that is his real name) grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. He began drumming at the age of 12 and studied classical and traditional music while playing in various rock n roll bands. DJ entered the Los Angeles underground music scene in the mid-1970’s when Charlotte Caffey and Joe Ramirez saw his band, Rocktopus, at Immaculate Heart College. They asked him to join their group, The Eyes, and it wasn’t long before members of X caught The Eyes playing at the Masque and asked DJ to be X’s drummer. After several years of touring and recording X took a brief hiatus and DJ began earnestly building his reputation as a talented and dependable live performance and session musician, playing drums, percussion, and mallet instruments with a variety of musicians and music groups. Today, in addition to playing drums, DJ is gaining a reputation as a talented vibraphonist, playing in both jazz and rock and roll settings.

Mark San Filippo

Mark San Filippo is a passionate and sensitive drummer. In 2000 he graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA earning a BA in Ethnomusicology with a concentration in Jazz Studies. While attending UCLA, Mark was mentored by famed drummer Billy Higgins. He also studied and performed with guitarist Kenny Burrell, band leader Gerald Wilson, bassist Roberto Miranda, drummer Sherman Fergueson and pianist Herbie Hancock. He currently performs throughout Los Angeles as a sideman and as a recording artist.

Sam Bolle

Sam Bolle was born and raised in Southern California, participating in school music programs from the age of 5. Currently playing with surf guitar legend Dick Dale, he also was a long time member of seminal punk-surf icons Agent Orange. Still based in Southern California, he divides his time between touring and local performances with a diverse array of artists.

“Thank you so much for everything, especially your professionalism and all of your hard work to make the day flow smoothly. The musicians were perfect, absolutely terrific, and really made my dream come true of having our ceremony be unique and memorable! They were very talented, prompt, and extremely courteous. All in all, the wedding is a blur, but the one detail I can remember is walking into the church and having beautiful music playing while I was about to give up my freedom forever!”

— Annette & Ian Fisher, married May 20, 2005,
St. Gregory’s Armenian, Glendale, CA

“Your musicians did an amazing job at my wedding. They were easy and fun to work with and most importantly, the mandolin music was incredible. Everyone was talking about how beautiful the music was and what an impact it had on our big day. Thank you!”

— Cory Asrilant & Erin Royer-Asrilant, married
Nov. 11, 2006, Middle Ranch, Los Angeles, CA

“We had a great time at our wedding! You played such a big part in making the evening fun and bringing our families together for the best night of dancing we’ve ever had. We could not have imagined better musicians for our wedding.”

— Matt & Ruth Franklin, married June 28, 2003,
Catalina Country Club, Catalina Island, CA

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