In Memory

Ten Schmidt

Ten Schmidt

Ten died pre-1981 from an infection.



 
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09/03/18 10:20 AM #1    

Sarah McElhone (Moriarty)

Ten had a very talented jazz band called Group Therapy. They recorded a 45 in New York. I still have my signed copy of the record.

Side 1: T. Schmidt prescribes Group Therapy. Unnamed, Opus 3.1416  

 

Side 2: Schmaltz Waltz, Opus 3/4. 

 


09/07/18 11:16 AM #2    

Ray Squiteri (-)

Ten's band included John Stanclift from our class (playing bass), Bill Frisbie (electric guitar) and my brother Peter (flute) from NCHS '67. They usually rehearsed at our house on South Avenue, where they could play and not disturb the rest of the household. I often listened in on those rehearsals. Ten played largely by ear, had lots of musical ideas, and held the group together with his rock-solid rhythm. He also had perfect pitch, meaning he could look at a note on paper and hear its pitch in his head. This should have been an advantage, but it caused him problems when he enrolled in a harmony course at Princeton. The instructor sometimes assigned students to transpose at sight (reading music in one key and playing in a different key). Ordinarily, Ten would look at notes, hear them in his head, and play what he heard. But in this sort of excercise, the notes he was playing were not what he was hearing in his head. In this case, having an unusual ability worked against him.


09/14/18 01:07 PM #3    

Connie Stanley (Vickery)

Ten is another longtime friend.  We were in a lot of classes together and I knew his brothers from orchestra.  He was so talented in so many ways.  Ten wrote beautifully as well as being a musician.  His dry sense of humor and love of irony cemented our friendship. 


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