Ted Wade
Oral History Information
Ted Wade was raised in a house full of music! His father played trumpet with several big bands such as Clyde McCoy during the swing era. When Ted was four years old he was playing drums along with his father and brother, both on trumpet. As he grew up in the Catskills, Ted was cutting his teeth playing in drum and bugle corps as well as classical and jazz big bands. Ted has a thousand stories playing for Stan Kenton, Aaron Copland, Cannonball Adderley, the Manhattan Jazz Band and others. With so many great teachers (John Pratt, Buddy Rich, Joe Morello and Gene Krupa) over the years, Ted wanted to give back what he learned. As a result he wrote the method book called “Fast Hands.” The book, which has been an inspiration to many young drummers, is subtitled “Remove the Mystery from Stick Control: A Logical Progression of Learning.