Big band sound

The eight-piece Ted Knight Orchestra played for a big band wedding at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida.

Carolyn and Michael, the bride and groom, work in the defense industry in Brevard County, south of St. Augustine. They found the historic hotel and city to be the perfect place for a most romantic wedding.

Carolyn, a software engineer, found Knight Music on the Internet while searching for a band that could play standards and jazz instead of the usual wedding fare.

At first the couple booked Ted's World's Smallest Big Band, but as the date grew closer they decided to upgrade to the full orchestra.

Sinatra, Ellington, Basie

They chose You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You for their first dance, and picked out a nice selection of songs for the evening from the Knight Music list. Ted sang The Way You Look Tonight. The band played Ellington's It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing and Count Basie's Sweet Georgia Brown, with vocal choruses by Evelyn Russell.

Evelyn was featured on Embraceable You, filling the dance floor. She also sang It Had to Be You, Route 66, and Billie Holiday's All of Me and Blue Moon. Her version of The Look of Love was nothing less than thrilling. Click photos to enlarge.

Later, by request, Ted did Zoot Suit Riot, a modern swing number. He also did Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, a jumpin' jive number from Louis Jordan.

For variety, Evelyn sang Just the Way You Are, Son of a Preacher Man from Dusty Springfield, and the Motown classic, My Guy.

The musicians

Ted called on his old friend Bill Prince, a nationally known jazz artist and educator now living in Jacksonville, to recommend local musicians for the date.

Trombonist Dave Steinmeyer was head of one of the country's military service jazz bands in Washington, DC for many years, and was glad to make the gig. He was featured on Night Train.

Willie Hammett came from his home in South Georgia to play trumpet. A veteran pro with many years of experience playing the resorts of St. Simon's Island and Jekyll Island, he sounded especially sweet playing muted fills on ballads.

Saxophonist Simon Hutchings was born in England. He played with leading bands in Arizona while completing his doctorate in music. He came to Florida and settled in Palm Coast, near Daytona Beach. A member of the prestigious Helios Saxophone Quartet as well as a fine jazz player, Simon has traveled all over Florida to play with Ted. This time he got to play one closer to home.

Both Willie and Simon also played for the jazz cocktail hour preceding the main reception.

Bassist Chelsea Chason is young, but plays like one of those cats who've been around since the 40s. She did a fine job at the cocktail hour on tunes like Perdido and Benny Goodman's Seven Come Eleven, and her playing with the full band knocked out the jazz fans.

She's also in demand for classical gigs, and in fact had just played for another wedding at the Casa Monica the week before.

Don Zentz was a real treat on alto and tenor sax. A well-known jazz artist, like Bill Prince he's also a highly-regarded music educator. Don won awards for his work with the nationally-known jazz program at University of North Florida, where Prince also taught for many years, before going on to head the performing arts program at the Bolles School in Jacksonville.

Drummer Kevin Campfield came up from South Florida with Ted and Evelyn. He and Chelsea locked down the beat something fierce, and his singing added another dimension to the evening. His vocal numbers included Night Train and Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon.

"Fantastic performance"

The bride and groom gave Ted's band a rave review.

"Fantastic performance...we highly recommend A Little Knight Music...big band and swing with all class...everyone loved A Little Knight Music from ages 4 to 84...we would ask them to play all over again."

Ted especially enjoyed seeing how much the wedding guests in their 20s and 30s enjoyed dancing to the ballads as well as the up-tempo swing numbers.

He says it's wonderful to see how people respond to music played with real horns, and performed by fine singers like Evelyn and Kevin.

Photos courtesy of Vincent Pierce Photography, Jacksonville. 

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