[Dixielandjazz] Ted Shafer, RIP

[Jim O'Briant]

Mike L. wrote:

 

*	I will never forget the first time I met Ted.  It was over the
phone, and it was (I think) 1995 or so.  
*	I'd gotten my hands on one of his fliers advertising his currently
available Merry Makers Record 
*	Company CDs, and called him.  It went something like this:

 

*	"Hello?"
*	"Hello!  Is this Mr Shafer?"
*	"No, Mr Shafer's my father and he's dead.  My name's Ted.  What's
yours?"

 

In early 2007, I'd been playing tuba in Ted Shafer's Jelly Roll Jazz Band
for a little less than a year. I was toying with the thought of starting a
band of my own. So during a break at one of our weekly gigs, I went to Ted
and said, "I'm thinking of staring my own Trad Band down in Gilroy. What
advice do you have for me?"

 

Immediately, he replied, "Have your G-D------ head examined!"

 

We both laughed, and then he continued, "Really. Think about whether you
want all the work and headaches that you get when you lead a jazz band. But
if you think about it seriously, and still want to do it, then hire the very
best musicians you can find."

 

Jim O'Briant, Gilroy, CA

Tuba / Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers Vintage Jazz Band

 

 

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