Wedding in Tampa
Ted Knight and the World's Smallest Big Band played for a wedding at Palma Ceia Golf Club in Tampa.
The bride and groom chose a sophisticated musical program for the black-tie affair, a mix of big band swing with Latin and Jewish selections to honor their families' heritage.
Soft
Brazilian jazz greeted the guests as they entered the ballroom, followed
by The Way You Look Tonight
for the couple's first dance. They danced with their parents to Glenn
Miller's Moonlight Serenade, the wedding party joining in.
Vocalist Evelyn Russell kept the dancers happy with My Guy, Respect, and You Are the Sunshine of My Life. She also did Just the Way You Are, And All That Jazz from Chicago, At Last, and a cool version of Peggy Lee's Fever.
Family
members appreciated Matt Schuler's Latin trumpet on Green Eyes.
Ted made it a rhumba medley with Guantanamera, singing the
Spanish lyrics.
During dinner, the band kept it quiet with songs like The Girl from Ipanema and Embraceable You.
For dancing, drummer Kevin Campfield sang Beyond the Sea and You Make Me Feel So Young. He laid down a funky groove for Evelyn to do Pink Cadillac, and when Matt Schuler laid his trumpet aside to sing Mustang Sally.
Ted's
vocals included Jailhouse Rock, Twistin' the Night Away, and the Louis
Jordan jive number,
Choo Choo Ch'Boogie.
After the cake cutting, everyone danced to a spirited hora with a
Hava Nagila finale.
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 Ted:
"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 so many good bands in Tampa.
He laughed when Ted said, "I guess
they wanted the best."
When it was all over, the manager told Ted, "You were right, you are the best."