Wedding in Tampa
The World's Smallest Big Band played for a wedding for a Cuban-Jewish couple at historic Palma Ceia Golf Club in Tampa.
With bandleader Ted Knight's help, the bride and groom chose a music mix that included big band swing, oldies, disco, and Latin and Jewish selections.
Soft
Brazilian jazz greeted guests as they entered, followed
by The Way You Look Tonight
for the couple's first dance. Then they danced with their parents to Glenn
Miller's Moonlight Serenade, the wedding party joining in.
After dinner, Ted brought dancers to the floor with songs like You Make Me Feel So Young, Jailhouse Rock, Twistin' the Night Away, and Louis Jordan's Choo Choo Ch'Boogie. He sang the Spanish lyrics to Guantanamera, and Matt Schuler's trumpet added a Latin touch on Green Eyes. Matt laid his trumpet aside to sing Mustang Sally, and vocalist Evelyn Russell kept the dancers happy with Just the Way You Are and My Guy.
After
the cake cutting, everyone danced the hora with a
Hava Nagila finale. Click image to enlarge.
The bride's mother told Ted that guests came up to her all evening to say how much they enjoyed the band. One older Cuban relative flashed Ted a thumbs-up, then walked over to say that this was the first wedding band he had liked in twenty years. Later, the groom wrote to say:
"Desirée and I wanted to extend our deepest thanks to you, Marie, and
the entire band for making our wedding night so much fun and so
memorable. We and all of our guests has a wonderful time dancing the
night away! We both wish that could have lived in that night a little
longer. Thank you again for making it so special!"
Before the reception, the banquet manager asked Ted why his band had come all the way from Delray Beach when there are good bands in Tampa. He laughed when Ted said, "I guess they wanted the best."