Reinhardt, Ted (1952-4th March 2015)

Percussionist and songwriter who met Bruce Brucato when he was twelve years old and went on to assemble a progressive rock band named Rodan in the 1970s. The group disbanded, but Ted lucked out by landing in the jazz-fusion group, Spyro Gyra. He played drums on their biggest hit, 1979’s “Morning Dance”. During the recording of the album of the same name, he was supplanted by Eli Konikoff. Rodan metamorphosed into a blues-fusion outfit in the 1980s, entitled Gamalon.

By 1985, Ted had already been enshrined in the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.

He appeared on a number of albums in the mid-‘80s, including Melanie’s Am I Real or What? and self-titled albums by The Dick Bauerle Group and Gloria Loring. In 1987, Gamalon issued its own eponymous effort. Ted was integral to the album’s success, mixing, producing, and multi-tasking on percussive instruments. He also co-wrote two of the songs, “Black Licorice” and “Cabin #14” and penned the album’s final track, “Jungle Fever”. Its follow-up was 1989’s Project—Activation Earth, in collaboration with Ernie Watts—in fact, Ernie Watts got top billing—and Ted co-wrote the sort-of title track, “Activation”.

Gamalon released three more studio albums, Aerial View, High Contrast, and Held to the Light. Betwixt and between, Ted moonlighted with Dave Constantino and appeared on the compilation album, World of Contemporary Jazz Groups. Other anthologies on which he performs include The Best of Spyro Grya: The First Ten Years and The Instrumental History of Jazz. Gamalon issued one more album, 1998’s Live at the Tralf, which is short for the Tralfamadore Café, a Buffalo hot spot. In 2002, they returned to the scene of the crime to play a twentieth-anniversary concert.

Ted split his time between the club scene and the recording studios. Gamalon continued to remain a popular live act, performing at venues such as The Central Park Grill and Club Evolution. In 2005, he appeared on John Valby’s CD, Valby Rocks. More live dates followed in 2006, as did a pair of Willie May albums, Blue Decade and Category Six.

In 2007, Ted joined The Legendary Jony James Band for several dates as part of a two-drummer experiment, in tandem with Kent “Boom Boom” Leech. He also made time to appear on The Dave Constantino Band’s album, Bump in the Road, with his brother Tom on bass. In 2009, he hooked up with Rodney Appelby and Joseph Michael Mahfoud on Echoes in Time. The balance of the year was spent on stage at the Bear’s Den, CPG, and Nietzche’s.

Other groups he worked with include the Accutones, Brainscan, Breast Milk, the Maelstrom Percussion Ensemble, Riverdog Jazz, the Ron LoCurto Project and Rush Hour. Ted was also one of the instructors at the First Annual Buffalo Niagara Drum Festival, at the Uptown Theater in Buffalo, New York.

He died in a plane crash in Norfolk, Virginia, in March 2015.

Spyro Gyra recordings
Morning Dance (Jay Beckenstein)

Sources:

Reinhardt, Ted (1952-4th March 2015)

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