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His experience working with big bands made for easy work, he said.

Arriving on stage in a sparkly tuxedo dress, she rearranged her hits Espresso and Please Please Please in a jazzy big band style, and even delivered a fleet-footed tap dance sequence.

Scott returned to the U.S. to a changed and charged atmosphere, with the big band and jazz era passing, and a much more vocal opposition to racist attitudes and laws.

Carpenter skipped back to the stage for a big band version of Espresso, complete with ankle-endangering tap routine.

By mid-decade, he was playing with a variety of swing bands, as well as the Luis Russell big band — one of his rare extended associations with a large ensemble.