John Knox Village, a retirement center located in Pompano Beach, celebrated their 40th anniversary in September 2007 with a concert by the Ted Knight Orchestra.

The Wednesday afternoon concert featured music of the 1940s. About 350 residents  attended.

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Evelyn Russell was featured on vocals, delighting the audience with songs such as "Embraceable You" and "Taking a Chance on Love." Her rendition of "Blues in the Night" went over especially well.

Ted enjoyed playing the facility's fine baby grand piano, and did the vocal honors on several numbers himself.

He picked up the beat with a Louis Jordan tune called "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," and sang Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Cocktail" with harmony by Evelyn.

Cake for everyone

Forty residents made forty home-made birthday cakes in honor of the occasion. Ted led the singing of "Happy Birthday to You," the bakers blew out their candles, and everyone enjoyed a bite while the band took an intermission.

A brief program honored long-time residents, and administrators recognized quite a number of centenarians.

After intermission, staff moved several rows of chairs so that people could dance.

Evelyn put a lightly Latin spin on Cole Porter's "Night and Day," and did a swinging version of "Route 66" featuring a sax solo by Ray Oram.

Drummer Sy Pryweller swung like mad, but his crisp snare drumming on Glenn Miller's "St. Louis Blues March" was especially fine. Sy was also featured on a medley of themes from the U.S. armed forces.

Ed DeMatteo kept the beat for the band on his big double bass. Originally a symphony player from Rochester, New York, Ed has been playing swing gigs with Ted Knight and his band since the two met in the 1980s.

The anniversary celebration continued the following day with mini-concerts at two other locations at John Knox Village. Ray and Ed were back to play sax and bass, while Sy moved to trumpet and Kevin Campfield was enlisted to play drums.

At the second site, the musicians met Mikki Phillips, the widow of jazz saxophone legend Flip Phillips. She enjoyed the music so much that she went out briefly and returned with gifts for the band, compact discs and concert videos featuring her late husband. It was a tremendous honor for the musicians.