Teddy was a great educator. His bands were learning grounds, really they were jazz academies. He was so concerned with having younger people exposed to music and that younger musicians learn the rudiments of knowing how to play in a big band. |
That was a hell of a band. I had those guys on my radio show on WDET, Jazz Alive so many times, I started putting them on with different names so (program director) Judy Adams wouldn't get wise. |
This man is so underrated. People talked about Miles Davis as the harbinger of jazz rock, but Paul Butterfield was doing this fusion between jazz and blues in a different way. Butterfield had a Detroit rhythm section: Teddy Harris, Rod Hicks and George Davidson. They recorded a couple albums with Butterfield. |