Ted Efantis with The Joker’s Wild at McGinty’s
It is my firm belief that the best musical moments often happen away from the hype and limelight. Sure, Springsteen’s still giving his all, and I hear Streisand puts on a rousing show. But every night of the week, there’s a cat flat gettin’ it on some small stage in your town, sweating up the joint, knocking himself out. ‘Cause that’s what he does. If you’re lucky, you’ll be in the room. If not, you may never even hear about it.
Such was the case at McGinty’s Tuesday night when The Joker’s Wild threw an 80th birthday bash for D.C. sax legend Ted Efantis. Efantis has played with the likes of Benny Goodman yet does not look nor act anywhere close to his age. He was gleefully telling musician jokes, drinking Presbyterians, jitterbugging women across the dance floor, and clearly enjoying himself all evening.
Joker sax man Jeff Gray claimed Efantis taught him everything he knows about the instrument and thus the bandmembers were kindly repaying a debt to their elder. A variety of D.C. musical hotshots, including GHZ bassist Scott Giambusso, and King Soul’s Tom Clifford, stopped by to wish Ted happy birthday. Or maybe they heard there was cake.
Above, Efantis, Gray, and Ted’s pal Knute smoke up Sonny Rollins‘ signature tune, “Tenor Madness.”
Efantis assays the definitive sax song, “Body and Soul:”
The Jokers (Vincent Borrelli, vocals; Tommy Barrick, drums; Brandon Cochenour, piano; Gray, saxophones; and Eric Leifert, bass) have their way with the Louis Prima classic, “Just a Gigolo:”
February 13th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Hey Dave,
I ran across this article by accident. Of course I knew there would be cake. I actually went to the gig a week early I was so excited for Ted. Any way I played with Teddy in the late 70’s at Captain Whites Crabhouse in Silver Spring. We worked together for several years. He is a brilliant genius and a total nutcase. The stories I could tell. Gotta love him.
Great writing Dave and thanks for the kudos
Scotti G