This profile was published in our predecessor, The American Rag, in October 2010. Ted Shafer died August 7, 2019, read our obituary, written by Bert Thompson: Ted Shafer (1925-2019)
Ted Shafer is an example of a musician who has a pocket-full of experiences and musical involvements that set a lifelong musical course that got its start in 1947 at a Sigma Chi dance at the University of Rochester. "A jazz band lead by trombonist Ray Murphy was the first time I heard real jazz being played live," Ted recalled. Needless to say, he was hooked!
Born in Rochester in 1925 and raised in the state's Finger Lake region, Ted indicates he "never heard such infectious sounds." However, it would take 12 years, including earning a degree in English and a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army before he started gathering stacks of shellac 78s with the great music of jazz legends, such as Lu Watters, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong and Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton to name a few. While working at Rochester's Photostat Corp. in Cincinnati and listening to such bands as Gene Mayo's Dixieland Rhythm Kings and Carl Halen's Gin Bottle Seven he developed a burning desire to play the banjo and form his own band.
He moved closer to this goal in 1957 when his company transferred him to Los Angeles. For the next few years he increased his banjo playing proficiency and spent a number of weekends flying to San
