She sang the more elegiac songs and was Prima’s comic foil.

The dynamic between Keely Smith and Prima was fundamental to the act. Reinventing their act, together with their supporting band, the Witnesses, they put together an irrepressibly energetic musical potpourri, much of it arranged by the band’s saxophonist Sam Butera, effortlessly juggling and mixing New Orleans jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and the “jump blues” of Louis Jordan – along with Italian tarantellas, recognisable jazz ballads, such as Autumn Leaves, and medleys that melted into one another, such as When You’re Smiling/The Sheik of Araby, or which abruptly changed pace (Don’t Worry About Me/I’m In the Mood for Love).