Columbus East High School Jazz Band

Dr. Ted Turner, director of the Columbus East music program, was from Steubenville, likely a crosstown contemporary of Dean Martin and he was seasoned on the big band swing of the 1930s. He came to The Ohio State University in 1945 and was not only the first Black student to perform with the Concert Band and Symphonic Orchestra, he was loved by his fellow students. Earl Hood had a place for the OSU student in his Valley Dale Orchestra, because in addition to playing trumpet, like his predecessor Sy Oliver, he contributed arrangements for the band.

Ted’s star rose over the Columbus East High School music program from 1959 to 1965 and it’s said that Ted Turner was the greatest high school jazz band director in the history of Central Ohio. And during those years his high school talent pool included pianists Bobby Pierce and Geoff Tyus, saxophonists Odell Thompson, Mike Roberts and Nate Fitzgerald, trumpeters Bobby Alston and Lee Savory, guitarist Craig McMullin, drummers Fred Thomas and Richard Thompson and a legion of other great young musicians.

Ted eventually received his doctorate in education and moved upwards in Columbus Public School administration, retiring as assistant superintendent. But away from the school board, Ted remained a fiercely imaginative brassman. He still had national music education professional contacts, including Carl “Doc” Severinsen, that he shared compositions with. He created the African Brass Ensemble to present the classical side of his expression.