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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText>Mike L. wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>I will never forget the first time I met Ted. It was over the phone, and it was (I think) 1995 or so. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>I'd gotten my hands on one of his fliers advertising his currently available Merry Makers Record <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Company CDs, and called him. It went something like this:<o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>"Hello?"<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>"Hello! Is this Mr Shafer?"<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoPlainText style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>"No, Mr Shafer's my father and he's dead. My name's Ted. What's yours?"<o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>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?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>Immediately, he replied, “Have your G—D------ head examined!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Jim O’Briant, Gilroy, CA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Tuba / Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers Vintage Jazz Band<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>