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Ted Reed
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TRmusic
Apr 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/7/97
to
The great drummer and educator Ted Reed died. He was the auther of
"Syncopation" a MUST STUDY kind of book that trenscended musical type or
style. He also wrote a fill ins and turn arounds book as well as a very
decent latin dance book for set. What I loved about his writing was the
spartan style and non cluttered look to his exercises.
On the cover of the Syncopation book, by the way, the snare drum and stand
were made by Billy Gladstone. The stand must have wieghed 25 pounds!
Ted will Be missed
Cary Nasatir
Michael Welzl
Apr 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/8/97
to
>The great drummer and educator Ted Reed died. He was the auther of
>"Syncopation" a MUST STUDY kind of book that trenscended musical type or
Not much more to say to that.
I just HAD to write a follow-up to make this post more visible - I can't stand
having nothing more than ONE SINGLE post about that.
Michael
zet...@bway.net
Apr 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/9/97
to
Yes Michael, I agree, let's make it three. I have used his books to
teach ever since I studied them myself as a student over 35 years ago.
Does anyone have any more information about the circumstances of his
death?
Peter Corona
Apr 20, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/20/97
to
TRmusic wrote:
>
> The great drummer and educator Ted Reed died. He was the auther of
> "Syncopation" a MUST STUDY kind of book that trenscended musical type or
> style. He also wrote a fill ins and turn arounds book as well as a very
> decent latin dance book for set. What I loved about his writing was the
> spartan style and non cluttered look to his exercises.
>
> On the cover of the Syncopation book, by the way, the snare drum and stand
> were made by Billy Gladstone. The stand must have wieghed 25 pounds!
>
> Ted will Be missed
>
> Cary Nasatir
> decent latin dance book for set. What I loved about his writing was the
> spartan style and non cluttered look to his exercises.
>
> On the cover of the Syncopation book, by the way, the snare drum and stand
> were made by Billy Gladstone. The stand must have wieghed 25 pounds!
>
> Ted will Be missed
>
> Cary Nasatir
Ted educated and influenced an entire generation of drummers. I am sorry
that he passed away.
Peter
tikipar...@gmail.com
Oct 28, 2014, 1:28:33 PM10/28/14
to
Teed Reed Bio:
I played bass with Ted Reed and was his lawyer after he moved to Clearwater.
He told me that people would frequently try to tell him how to play the drum parts - something like, "I need a shuffle-beat with accents on the second and..." - He would cut them off with "Don't tell me HOW to play. Tell me WHAT to play (He wanted the title or style - eg. "Moonglow" or "tango", etc. Ted knew how to play; instruction from a non-drummer was not welcome and deemed useless).
Ted played with New York City's famous Lester Lanin Orchestra (which is still a major group even after Lester died at age 97).
He had an office in New York in the same building as one of the Three Stooges (Larry) and they would do lunch together.
Ted didn't like people sitting in on his drum kit after some kid dented his snare drum head by raising the sticks way above his head and coming down as hard as he could (on the song Wild Thing, I believe).
When he started teaching he would write out the drum-parts by hand. He tired of this and had them printed. Then he self-published his own books in NY (sold them by the thousands) and continued self-publishing out of an old building in Clearwater (continuing to sell the books by the thousands.)
I once saw Ted move a four foot high pile of his books on a two-wheel hand dolly his studio-office. I heard him playing there once when I was visiting another client in the building. He was practicing and told me that a professional drummer should practice 4 hours a day.
The first time I heard Ted play, he was with a little ensemble that preceded the big band part of the gig. As I walked in, I heard this cool cutting-edge modern drum beat and looked around. To my surprise it was this old guy (Ted) playing beautifully. He and I got a great bass and drum thing going during the big band part the job.
Later I recorded a novelty song I wrote ("When the Butt Floss Blooms in the Spring" - about the thong bathing suit), backed by Ted and a piano player. The piano and I had trouble kicking it off together. Ted took charge and inserted a drum solo to start (nothing special - at that time) but it was cool and fit the song and got it going. Later he mentioned that the solo was the now-standard (quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth figure repeated on the hi-hat, opening and closing. Forgive me here drummers - bass and trombone player speaking drum-talk). But the cool point here is that that sound was not always standard. Ted said he first heard of it from a guy ("Ted, you need to go to the 'xyz cool club' and hear what this drummer does with flyswatters.") Ted went to the club and was wowed by the(then) new sound - and the flyswatters - now brushes today.
Ted told me that "the music was evolving and would always continue to do so."
In later life, he would stage country-club big band gigs at least once a year for fun. He moved his drums on a wheeled cart that held everything quite nicely and moved easily. He lived in a nice water-front home with a beautiful, sweet wife who loved him dearly. He died of natural causes at a very ripe old age.
Ted Reed was my friend.
I played bass with Ted Reed and was his lawyer after he moved to Clearwater.
He told me that people would frequently try to tell him how to play the drum parts - something like, "I need a shuffle-beat with accents on the second and..." - He would cut them off with "Don't tell me HOW to play. Tell me WHAT to play (He wanted the title or style - eg. "Moonglow" or "tango", etc. Ted knew how to play; instruction from a non-drummer was not welcome and deemed useless).
Ted played with New York City's famous Lester Lanin Orchestra (which is still a major group even after Lester died at age 97).
He had an office in New York in the same building as one of the Three Stooges (Larry) and they would do lunch together.
Ted didn't like people sitting in on his drum kit after some kid dented his snare drum head by raising the sticks way above his head and coming down as hard as he could (on the song Wild Thing, I believe).
When he started teaching he would write out the drum-parts by hand. He tired of this and had them printed. Then he self-published his own books in NY (sold them by the thousands) and continued self-publishing out of an old building in Clearwater (continuing to sell the books by the thousands.)
I once saw Ted move a four foot high pile of his books on a two-wheel hand dolly his studio-office. I heard him playing there once when I was visiting another client in the building. He was practicing and told me that a professional drummer should practice 4 hours a day.
The first time I heard Ted play, he was with a little ensemble that preceded the big band part of the gig. As I walked in, I heard this cool cutting-edge modern drum beat and looked around. To my surprise it was this old guy (Ted) playing beautifully. He and I got a great bass and drum thing going during the big band part the job.
Later I recorded a novelty song I wrote ("When the Butt Floss Blooms in the Spring" - about the thong bathing suit), backed by Ted and a piano player. The piano and I had trouble kicking it off together. Ted took charge and inserted a drum solo to start (nothing special - at that time) but it was cool and fit the song and got it going. Later he mentioned that the solo was the now-standard (quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth figure repeated on the hi-hat, opening and closing. Forgive me here drummers - bass and trombone player speaking drum-talk). But the cool point here is that that sound was not always standard. Ted said he first heard of it from a guy ("Ted, you need to go to the 'xyz cool club' and hear what this drummer does with flyswatters.") Ted went to the club and was wowed by the(then) new sound - and the flyswatters - now brushes today.
Ted told me that "the music was evolving and would always continue to do so."
In later life, he would stage country-club big band gigs at least once a year for fun. He moved his drums on a wheeled cart that held everything quite nicely and moved easily. He lived in a nice water-front home with a beautiful, sweet wife who loved him dearly. He died of natural causes at a very ripe old age.
Ted Reed was my friend.
tomsc...@gmail.com
Sep 18, 2015, 8:48:35 AM9/18/15
to
I studied under Ted in the sixties he was the best
jhbi...@gmail.com
Nov 26, 2017, 10:31:36 PM11/26/17
to
Ted was my mother's cousin I could go on and on with stories he would tell. But he was a down to earth guy who didn't forget his roots comfortable in the big Apple and in the small town that his cousins lived in. Greatly appreciate missed
daniel.c...@gmail.com
Jan 27, 2019, 10:52:29 AM1/27/19
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