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Teddy Charles

Teddy Charles, along with Milt Jackson and Terry Gibbs, extended the legacies of Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo and established the gold standard for modern jazz vibraphonists. Charles was also an innovative composer and arranger whose recordings were some of the most forward looking and highly regarded of the 1950s, especially his Tentet sessions for the Atlantic label in 1956. His versatility is demonstrated by the broad spectrum of musicians with whom he worked during his career ranging from jazz luminaries such as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Gunther Schuller to rhythm and blues stars including Aretha Franklin, Chuck Willis, and Earl Bostic. Although I have been unable to obtain session details for the discography, Charles recalls doing many recording dates with pop, soul and rock artists including Bobby Vinton, Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Paul Simon, Diahann Carroll, Betty Barney and organist Ethel Smith. Teddy Charles also produced and supervised many recording dates involving artists such as John Coltrane, Zoot Sims and Howard McGhee, mainly for the Prestige, Bethlehem and Warwick labels. In the 1960s, Charles returned to his other passion in life, sailing. For years, he was occupied with the maintenance and operation of the Mary E, an historic 72-foot clipper schooner built in 1906. He sold that vessel recently (January 2007) and conducted tours of the Peconic Bay estuary on the historic skipjack Pilgrim. On April 23, 2003, Charles performed in a trio setting with clarinetist Perry Robinson and bassist Ed Schuller at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City. Robinson and Charles had never worked together before this event. It was fascinating to hear the interactions between the unabashedly "outside" clarinetist and the more controlled but still adventurous Charles. On April 17, 2005, Teddy Charles performed with the Tony DiGregorio Trio (Tony DiGregorio, guitar; Tony Oblaney, bass; Keith Dorgan, drums) at DEKK in TrBeCa. The quartet swung compellingly through a variety of jazz standards on a lovely, warm afternoon in lower Manhattan. Teddy Charles often performed at the Scrimshaw Restaurant in Greenport, NY with trombonist Bob Hovey, pianist Neil Ralph and drummer Andy Collier. Charles appeared as a special guest with the Chris Byars Quartet at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City on October 12 & 13, 2007. Performing some of Charles's own compositions, the ensemble included John Mosca on trombone, Ari Roland on bass and Stefan Schatz on drums with Chris Byars on alto, tenor and soprano saxophones and flute.

Encore: Teddy Charles

by AAJ Staff
April 5, 2003

Over a post blizzard mid-February brunch just off Central Park West, one of jazz' neglected masters, Teddy Charles (who turns 75 this month) recalled one of his first recordings - clarinetist Buddy DeFranco's 1949 sextet featuring drummer Max Roach and guitarist Jimmy Raney. Six months prior was the vibraphonist's recording debut which was with Chubby Jackson's big band. 40 years later, and after a semi-comeback in the early '80s, the mallet man recorded his final session to date, Live at ...

146

Album Review

Teddy Charles: New Directions

by Derek Taylor
January 1, 2000

Perhaps the most rarefied release in Prestige’s new string of limited edition reissues, this disc gathers three incredibly scarce ten-inch recordings by vibraphonist Teddy Charles. Each of the sessions collected provides a stimulating glimpse into realms of experimentation often overlooked by jazz fans and historians alike. Charles was one of the most active members of a small fraternity of jazz musicians whose innovations during the early 1950s presaged the “Third Stream” and modal experiments that transpired later in the decade ...

Video / DVD

Teddy Charles and Two Bookers

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 28, 2021

Teddy Charles was a heavy hitter. A vibraphonist, composer, arranger and a producer, Teddy could swing as easily as he could explore modal territory with his groups. When I started this blog back in 2007, there were a number of musicians I wanted to interview first. Among them were Danny Bank, Hal McKusick, Sol Schlinger and Teddy Charles—cats who were largely unrecognized by the jazz media but were on the coolest records. All gave me great interviews that you'll find ...
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Video / DVD

Electrifying Track: The Eagle Flies

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 7, 2018

Vibraphonist Teddy Charles was one cool cat. Every time I called him back in the late 2000s, his lingo was straight out of the hipster's manual. And it all came naturally to Teddy, since he lived the jazz life. In addition to being a swinging vibraphonist, he was a superb record producer. In April 1957, Teddy produced and recorded Coolin' for Prestige with a group he called the Prestige All-Stars. Along with Teddy on vibes were trumpeter Idrees Sulieman, alto ...
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Recording

Teddy Charles: New Directions

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 15, 2016

Vibraphonist Teddy Charles was playing free jazz nearly as early as Lee Konitz, Lennie Tristano, Billy Bauer and Gil Melle. In 1951, '52 and '53, Teddy recorded a series of three 10-inch LPs for Prestige in the trio, quartet and quintet formats. I was thinking of Teddy yesterday and gave them a listen, finding the material to be as interesting today as it must have been back then. Joining Teddy on the trio recordings were by Don Roberts (g) and ...
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Obituary

Teddy Charles: (1928-2012)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 19, 2012

Teddy Charles, a hard-swinging four-mallet vibraphonist, composer, pianist and player-producer who in the late 1940s and early '50s transformed the steel-plated instrument into a cooler, jazz-classical protagonist, died on April 16, He was 84. Trained at the Juilliard School of Music, Teddy was able to reach effortlessly into modern classical music theory and deploy modal scales on solos—giving his compositions and recordings a fresh, hip sound. But what made Teddy's style special was he was able to combine long-hair ...
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Contest

Announcing the Winners of the Smalls Records 5 CD Giveaway!

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2009

398

Contest

Enter the Smalls Records Five CD Giveaway Contest

Source: All About Jazz
April 10, 2009

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Smalls Records FIVE CD giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on May 10th.

Click here to enter the contest

(Following Teddy Charles at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Teddy Charles Dances With Bulls - SRCD-0038

Zaid Nasser Off Minor - SRCD-0039

Yaala Ballin Travelin' Alone - SRCD-0040

Omer Klein Heart Beats ...
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195

Interview

Interview: Teddy Charles in 1953

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 17, 2008

Back in the early 1950s, vibraphonist Teddy Charles was one swinging cat. Years ahead of his time, Teddy that year was experimenting with modal jazz and playing bop with some of the hippest musicians of the day. His leadership dates in 1951 and 1952 for Prestige Records include trio and quartet sessions with guitarist Jimmy Raney and drummer Ed Shaughnessy. In early 1953, Teddy relocated to the West Coast, where he produced and played on several cutting-edge records for Prestige. ...
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150

Performance / Tour

Jazz Surviors

Source: All About Jazz
May 27, 2008

THE VIBRAPOHONIST TEDDY CHARLES Teddy Charles was tearing through some of Charlie Parker's most daunting tunes with a quartet at the Dix Hills Center for the Performing Arts, (Huntginton, NY) here as the audience of nearly 200 people roared its approval. Given the energy he exuded -- despite a leg injury -- it would have been hard to guess his age. But Mr. Charles, who turned 80 last month, is not just any octogenarian, nor just any musician. He played ...
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