Guitarist, composer, and recording artist Ted Shumate was born in Meridian, Mississippi. His earliest musical experiences were the gospel music of the Southern Baptist Church and native Delta Blues. At the age of four, his family moved to the musically rich state of Florida. The great migration of Cubans, South Americans, and other Caribbean nationals in the early 60s brought a wide variety of experiences to the young musician to absorb, and would later help shape his musical personality.
During the time Ted lived in Florida, he attended elementary school, high school, and college. He graduated (with honors) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies and Music Composition from Eckerd College.
Ted moved to Los Angeles, California in 1980 to attend the Guitar Institute of Technology. Upon his graduation, he was hired as an instructor at G.I.T. while also playing and recording in the Los Angeles area.
In 1983 Ted was hired as a full-time bandleader/guitarist at the Hurricane Jazz Club in Passagrille, Florida. After a successful five-year stint at the Hurricane, Ted left to do numerous Jazz festivals and international tours when his 1987 release, "Gulfstream" (Pausa Records) with jazz legend Ira Sullivan made the top 10 jazz charts in the U.S.A. and abroad.
Some of the noted musicians that Ted has played and/or recorded with are: Nat Adderley for 10 years, Ira Sullivan, Red Rodney, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Drew Jr., Joey Barron, Peter Erskine, Branford Marsalis, Lucky Peterson, Sonny Fortune, Larry Willis, Al DiMeola, Walter Booker, Kenny Werner, Gary Dial, Gumbi Ortiz, Jerry Fuller, Longineu Parsons, Wynton Marsalis and many others.
Ted has written a guitar instructional book titled "Chord Concepts," a guitar instructional manual (distributed by Hal Leonard Publications), that is used in colleges and universities worldwide. Ted has recorded 6 CDs under his own name, his most recent being "Hard Times." He has played on countless other CDs by numerous artists in the U.S.A. and abroad. Ted was Director of Jazz Studies and Guitar Studies at GulfCoast Community College for 5 years. He was a professor at Okaloosa/Walton College in Niceville Florida for 2006-2007...
