This week Amy sent me a photo that she took of me, Kevin Adams, Eric Quesenberry and Teddy Francisco on April 16th, 2004 at Java J’s in Abingdon, VA – one of the only live performances of our group that was working together on a jazz project mixing Ted’s bluegrass banjo with Eric’s expansive rhythms and Kevin Adams great saxophone lines. Ted died last year of pancreatic cancer.
Amy sent out months of email reports about Teddy’s condition last year. They diagnosed Teddy with cancer in the early part of the year and unfortunately, Ted lost that battle in the fall and our region lost a influential and wonderful soul.
I’m so happy that Amy sent this picture too. Lots of times, folks will grab a picture and you never see it again, so I was glad to get this one as it rolled back into my shore. Thank you Amy.
Ted was a virtuouso banjo/guitar player and left a legacy of students from where he taught at JJs House of Music. His students were his biggest fans and he played regularly with Alathea and several other bluegrass acts. We meet in the winter of 2003 and worked together an Dave Brubeck and Bella Fleck songs as well as turning our own original music too. No recordings though and I wish that wasn’t true.
We had a great time together during this part of my path and Ted was a delightful soul to play music with. He loved every note and so far, I’ve never played with a more versatile player. He was too humble for his own good and will long be remembered in Bristol and surrounding areas.
One of my prized local collectibles is the Ted Francisco Benefit Concert recording at the Paramount Center for The Arts on July 26th. It’s a wonderful testament to Ted’s influence and features plenty of great talent including Alathea, Danielle Walters, Jerry Hensley, The VW Boys, Wallace Switch, Benny Wilson and others.
Bless you Amy and thank you for bringing back some great memories today about our friend Ted.