For many bands, the health of the group relies on giving one another space when need be. In most cases, that's pretty easy; after all, after practice or a gig, usually everyone can go in their separate directions. That's a little bit difficult for Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines, the core duo of the Madison-based jazz band The Stellanovas, who celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this year.

"We’ve been asked ‘What’s it like being in a band with your significant other?’ many times over the years, mostly from our musician friends," Wagoner said. "We’re full-time musicians. We’ve both had full and part-time day jobs, but largely at the same time, we were both full-time musicians touring, so I look back at those days and go, ‘I don’t know how the hell we did that.’"

Wagoner, a violinist, and cellist Gaines together have a full plate. They both teach private lessons, perform in several bands and do session work. But The Stellanovas is their baby, their main project. The two, coming along with the other two members of the band (guitarist Ed Fila and drummer Erik Radloff) to The Jazz Estate Friday, Nov. 14, came together when they were studying at UW-Madison.

"It was the very first day that I arrived on campus," Wagoner recalled. "My girlfriend at the time and my folks dropped me off on campus, and Mary was playing in a little jazz band behind the union called Nobody’s Business. It was so funky, and I thought, ‘I love this! I love being here!’ I introduced myself to her right away, figuring we were in the school of music together."

The two were good friends for a few years before beginning to date and eventually tying the knot. Meanwhile, their music careers were taking Wagoner and Gaines in a wide set of directions, the two performing in multiple bands of all sorts of genres – country, bluegrass, rock and classical. About eight years ago, however, the two decided to return back to the music that they loved, the music that brought them together: jazz.

Wagoner and Gaines started off as just merely a violin and cello duo (Wagoner also plays the accordion and ukulele) – and in fact, they still play some shows as simply a duo – but soon added on Fila on guitar to fill out the sound of The Stellanovas. It’s a particular brand of jazz as well that the group plays, one they call café jazz, a mix of ’40s, ’50s and Americana into an intimate, swinging brand of music combined with unique instrumentation.

"We were playing in a lot of bigger bands – The Moon Gypsies, roots rock, Americana – and getting back to jazz, we kind of liked the idea of really being able to play subtle music at a lower volume, something that could fit in a more mellow situation," Wagoner explained. "It’s not background music or easy listening. The idea is in being in those little jazz clubs in Milwaukee or New York, and it just seems to fit. You have people sitting there in maybe a cool restaurant, and it has that kind of atmosphere. Slightly more intimate, but still fun and not formal. Relaxed."

So far, it’s been a rewarding direction for the The Stellanovas, both as a band and as a married couple.

"Like any good relationship, you have to give each other space and appreciate each other’s strengths and weaknesses," Wagoner said. "You fill in where the other needs help, and they do the same for you."