ONE ALTERNATIVE GROUP BIOGRAPHY 2025

ONE ALTERNATIVE is a unique music ensemble that has persevered through many mutations of the musical landscape since 1983. The secret of this long lifespan is the group's ongoing dedication to make the best instrumental music possible while not being deterred by ever-changing trends.

The sound of ONE ALTERNATIVE can be best described as an "acoustic fusion"; blending the compositional form of classical music with the spontaneity of jazz, rock and folk styles. The resulting mixture is a vibrant and joyful listening experience. The personnel and instrumentation that makeup ONE ALTERNATIVE is:

Jill Haley- oboe and English horn

Dana Allaband - violin

Mark Oppenlander - guitar

Chico Huff - bass guitar

Tony DeAngelis - drums

In its inception, ONE ALTERNATIVE was a trio of oboe and two guitars. Jill and Mark were founding members along with guitarist Frank McDermott. As well as writing original compositions, the trio played various folk, jazz, rock and classical venues in the Philadelphia area. As they started to establish themselves in the music community it was decide to record an LP record. The self-released album Greenlawn received a great amount of airplay on college/FM radio around the country in 1985. Jon Takiff of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote that Greenlawn was the "tastiest independent record project to come out of these parts in many moons". A good start indeed!

ONE ALTERNATIVE has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Oregon, Renaissance, Spyro Gyra, Bill Bruford, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell and the Dixie Dregs among others. A total of eight albums have been released with the most recent in 2017 titled Twilight.

Through the years ONE ALTERNATIVE has seen various personnel and instrument changes. Bass guitar and drums were permanently added in the early 2000's. In 2018 the thought came to mind that violin would work well replacing the second guitar. The addition of violinist Dana Allaband to the lineup helped transform the essence of ONE ALTERNATIVE into something completely new. The group's music has been reworked for the quintet and the result is an even more realized sound!