Terry Waldo

Terry Waldo (born November 26, 1944) is an American pianist, composer, and historian of early jazz, blues, and stride music, and is best known for his contribution to ragtime and his role in reviving interest in this form, starting in the 1970s. Says Wynton Marsalis in his introduction to Waldo's book: "He teaches Ragtime, he talks about Ragtime, he plays it, he embodies it, he lives it, and he keeps Ragtime alive." The book, This is Ragtime, published in 1976, grew out of the series of the same title that Waldo produced for NPR in 1974. Waldo is also a theatrical music director, producer, vocalist, and teacher. He is noted for his wit and humor in performance, as "a monologist in the dry, Middle Western tradition." Eubie Blake describes his first impression of Waldo's performance thus: "I died laughing...that's one of the hardest things to do—make people laugh. Terry's ability to do this, combined with his musicianship, actually reminds me of Fats Waller."

Waldo was born in Ironton, Ohio. His family moved to Columbus, Ohio when he was about five years old. His neighbor, John Baker, owned a large collection of jazz recordings, piano rolls, and jazz films. Terry spent most of his free time absorbing all this great American music at Baker's. The jazz film collection was eventually acquired by the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and is considered one of the most extensive in the world. As a child, Waldo listened to Spike Jones and Dixieland records, and became a record collector himself.

At around the age of eight he began studying classical piano. The formal lessons continued for three years; in a short time he moved from classical to jazz and ragtime. He also learned how to play trumpet, tuba, string bass, cello, tympani drums, banjo, and organ.

By 1961, he had organized his first band: The Fungus Five Plus Two ("our music grows on you"), which appeared on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour in 1963, the same year Waldo graduated from high school. In 1969 Waldo met Eubie Blake at the St. Louis Ragtime Festival. Blake became his mentor and lifelong friend. Waldo studied piano with Blake from 1971 through 1983, although Blake qualifies their arrangement: "Now, I'm not going to say I taught Terry how to play, because he already knew his stuff when I met him...He has become not only a fine musician, but an excellent entertainer." Waldo also studied piano with Roland Hanna, Dick Wellstood, Jaki Byard, and Peter Howard.

Waldo's range of expertise (composing, arranging, writing, directing, and performing) has been evidenced across a wide spectrum of media and performing arts. He continues to produce his own shows and recordings with his partner, Janice Lee, through Waldo/Lee Music Productions, Inc. Waldo/Lee recently provided production assistance for the latest revised edition of Waldo's book, This Is Ragtime for Jazz at Lincoln Center Library Editions, as well as reissuing the radio series of the same title made for NPR. The company is now developing a new Off-Broadway musical show for Waldo. Meanwhile, he continues a series of live performances in diverse venues including The Supreme Court, Jazz At Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall (as a featured guest with the New York Pops) and The National Gallery of Arts in Washington.

Waldo began his professional career in 1963 by working in various restaurants around Columbus, Ohio. Soon, he began playing in several bands including Gene Mayl's Dixieland Rhythm Kings from Dayton, Ohio. Mayl's band was one of a few select hold-outs dotting the country from the traditional jazz revival of the 1940s. The twenty-year-old Waldo then appeared in New Orleans in 1964, playing with such notables as Kid Valentine and Johnny Wiggs. The Red Garter, home to various banjo bands, was one of his venues. In 1965 and 1966 he played in San Francisco at another Red Garter and at Earthquake Mcgoon's with West Coast jazz revival musicians. Waldo played with Turk Murphy's Jazz Band and studied with other prominent jazz musicians such as Pops Foster, Lu Watters, Wally Rose, and Clancy Hayes, while living in a room above Mcgoon's for one dollar per day.

Returning to Ohio, Waldo formed the Gutbucket Syncopators in 1969. This traditional jazz group included Frank Powers, Roy Tate, and Jim Snyder, among others. The Syncopators performed at festivals and clubs and made a number of recordings. This band attracted top musicians from Chicago and New York and featured such notable guest performers as George Rock (of Spike Jones fame), Ruth Brisbane, and Edith Wilson.

Waldo's twenty-six part NPR series, This is Ragtime, aired in 1974 and helped fuel the 1970s ragtime revival. The book of the same title grew out of that series: first published in 1976, and subsequently republished in 1991 and 2009. Eubie Blake, who wrote the introduction, credits his protégé: "Terry's love of Ragtime goes back a long way, long before its 'rediscovery.' People then were always trying to talk him out of playing that 'corny old stuff.'"