Ted Hefko   home   music   gigs   links   discography
bio

Egyptland is a collection of scenes and stories set in New Orleans, where saxophonist turned songwriter, Ted Hefko, made his home for some ten years. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a decade's worth of ideas began to fit together to personify a city and a period in the author's life. Recorded in an era when living room studios began to rival the fidelity afforded our favorite artists and works of yesteryear, each track on Egyptland represents a collaboration a with a close friend or two in an intimate setting. The songs on this album are as varied as the sounds emanating from the myriad of storefront concert halls lining the way on an evening jaunt down New Orleans's Frenchmen street.

We begin with a tale of escape from Hurricane Betsy in the late Sixties, coupled with first impressions of New Orleans. By track nine, we find ourselves accompanying Ted as he guts homes in decimated New Orleans East, in the wake of a terrific storm. In between we have hangovers and awkward dates, hot days working construction in Algiers, an instrumental tribute to some flamboyant second-line dancer and memories of a childhood in Wisconsin. Finally we make our way back to Frenchmen street and one of those spontaneous late night street jams, mixing the Caribbean percussion and jazz improv that breathe vitality into New Orleans's take on American folk music.

Born on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin, early influences came from Dad's collection of reel-to-reel bootlegs and vintage vinyl — everything from jazz to world music to piedmont blues. He began forming his own groups while in high school and played around Madison on sax and guitar.

After high school he moved to the New Orleans. He earned a BFA in Jazz Saxophone at the University of New Orleans in 2000, where Ellis Marsalis held court. Graduation found him on the road with jazz-jam band, Idletime. The band toured nationally from 1998 through 2001 and released “Time Stops...” on Louisiana RedHot Records in 2000, featuring two of Ted's originals and several collaborations. The group gave Hefko a chance to see the country and open for acts such as The Funky Meters, Leftover Salmon, Leo Neocentelli, Derek Trucks, Rebirth Brassband, and North Mississipi Allstars. Off the road, Ted formed his own jazz quartet, which released, “Live at The Blue Nile,” in 2004. He also worked regularly with jazz legend, Warren Battiste, Brazilian influenced songwriter, Blake Amos and he performed at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with R&B singer Tondrae, and the latin group, Los Sagitarios. Since moving to New York, from New Orleans, some five years ago, Ted has been busy leading his own band, Ted Hefko and The Thousandaires, featuring some of the City's most talented players, working and recording with some great bands as a sideman along the way.