Ted Knight
Keyboardist-pianist-vocalist Ted Knight makes music all over Florida and beyond.
His
big band has played in Tampa and Boca Raton. His orchestra has played in St. Augustine,
Key West and Key Largo, and at Boca Grande on the Gulf coast.
Ted played for a wedding in Alabama, leading to a return trip for a corporate party.
Musicianship the key
With a a repertoire of thousands of songs, Ted always seems to call the right tune. He learned the big band sound from his bandleader father, Vic Knight, but like many musicians who grew up in the 1960s, he also loves to play pop and rock.
The very best musicians and vocalists enjoy working with Knight Music. Many say they appreciate the way he uses no backing tracks, the all-natural style that many bands have abandoned for electronics.
Many of his key performers have been with Ted for twenty years or more, but he also nurtures young talent. Trumpet player Forrest Sonntag, now a promising student at Manhattan School of Music, started with Ted's big band at age 14. Guitarist Alex Lacy was only an 8th grader but wowed the audience (and the rest of the band) when Ted invited him to sit in at a big band gig.
Early days
Back in 1974, Ted
formed a trio with fellow music students at Florida Atlantic University
to play gigs in and around Delray Beach. After graduation, he became
program director at his
father's radio station, playing "Big
Bands and All That Jazz" and developing
a smooth and natural announcing style.
Ted's band grew with the addition of horns. Above right, an early picture of the Ted Knight Orchestra taken at the Delray Beach Club.
He
also played with his father's big band and his Dixieland
jazz group. At left, a date with Vic
at Erny's, a Delray Beach restaurant and jazz club. Click images to
enlarge.
With classical training as well as jazz, Ted formed a chamber music ensemble to play music for wedding ceremonies. Putting his radio experience to work, he also began to offer mobile disc jockey services, playing not just jazz and standards but dance music of all kinds.
Ted released his
first album in 2007 and
has a second one planned. The future looks bright for Knight Music.
Demo recordings
Hear are samples of Ted's playing and singing. For demonstration purposes only, not for sale.
The Ted Knight Orchestra (with four horns): 1 - 3
Crosswind: 4
Trio (piano, bass, drums): 5 - 6
The Knight Music Trio (piano, flute, cello): 7
The Ted Knight/Vince Lewis Quartet (piano, guitar, bass, drums): 8
The Ted Knight Quintet (trumpet, sax, piano, bass, drums): 9
The Ted Knight Big Band (with ten horns): 10
Ted Knight, solo piano 11 - 26
- The Way You Look Tonight Frank Sinatra
- Choo Choo Ch'Boogie Louis Jordan
- Jailhouse Rock Elvis Presley
- Heart of Rock and Roll Huey Lewis
- Broadway Count Basie
- Ace in the Hole 1910s
- Through the Eyes of Love movie theme
- Like Young André Previn
- The Shadow of Your Smile standard
- Wind Beneath My Wings standard
- And I Love Her Beatles
- Come Fly With Me Frank Sinatra
- Piano Man Billy Joel
- Have You Met Miss Jones Rodgers & Hart
- Send in the Clowns/Memory Sondheim/Webber
- Blueberry Hill Fats Domino
- Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin
- Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans Louis Armstrong
- Our House Crosby, Stills & Nash
- New York State of Mind Billy Joel
- Learning the Blues Frank Sinatra
- Strange Meadowlark Dave Brubeck
- My Love Paul McCartney
- Manhattan Rodgers & Hart
- My Buddy 1920s
- I'll Follow the Sun Beatles