Show Notes
Teddy Charles was a hard swinging master of the vibes and also a sophisticated composer and arranger of forward looking sounds. Theodore Charles Cohen was born in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents in Springfield, Mass. He loved music as a child, noodled on the piano and took drum lessons. As a teenager during the World War II years he played professional gigs filling in for those drafted overseas. He suffered from anti-semitism and chafed at the poor musical prospects in his small town. So, upon graduating high school he was fortunate to move to New York, and he eventually qualified to enroll in Julliard. He also pursued “musical studies” in 52nd Street nightclubs. These were the bebop years, and the youthful Teddy was caught up in the sway of this modern music. It the early 1950s he formed a vibes-guitar-bass trio and later worked closely with pianist Hall Overton and guitarist Jimmy Raney. Teddy’s “New Directions” series for Prestige incorporated his modal ideas and concept of more free form improvisation within straight ahead jazz. It was during this period that his agent had him use the professional name “Teddy Charles”. Prestige records hired Teddy to open and run its California office in 1953 at the age of 25. There he honed his organizational skills, recorded old friend Wardell Gray and “discovered” Sonny Clark and Frank Morgan, among others, for their first recordings. Charles returned to New York and had significant associations with modern workshops and composers, and he developed a long lasting friendship and collaboration with Charles Mingus. He arranged the stunning “Blue Moods” album with Miles and Mingus. Teddy also formed his own favorite group, his Tentet, which gave him the opportunity to explore his complex writing and arranging ideas. The Tentet released two classic albums on Atlantic. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, in addition to his own playing, Charles became an A&R man and producer for record companies and an arranger, championing the likes of Booker Little. He was part of the scene of the “Newport Rebels”. As a producer, he supervised recordings for artists ranging from John Coltrane to Aretha Franklin. Later in the 1960s, fed up with the music business and wishing to explore the other love of his life, sailing, Teddy moved to the Caribbean and became a charter boat captain. In the early 1980s, Charles felt an itch to return to music, so he moved back to New York, living first on City Island and then for many years in Greenport on Long Island, and from those bases he still pursued maritime activity while also returning to the jazz scene and many gigs, working often with Harold Danko. In his later years Teddy collaborated with Chris Byars. They resurrected his tentet charts and other compositions, and Chris organized ensembles for renewed concerts and recordings. Teddy Charles died of heart failure in 2012 at the age of 84.
originally broadcast June 21, 2026
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