Biography

As  a child, Teddy demonstrated a talent for playing piano and went to  Fidel School of Creative Arts in Bayville, Long Island to study music.    His classmate Brad Fiedel * (composer of Terminator 1, Terminator 2,  True Lies) and Ted would play for all the modern dance classes.  He  first started his recording career with the underground classic Country  Rock Band White Cloud.  From there, Teddy went on to perform and play  keyboards for the likes of Ric Derringer, Dr. John, Odetta, Johnny  Winter, Albert King, Gordon Waller, Ray Draper, Gary Stewart, Michael  Powers, Lester Chambers and Loudon Wainwright III.  You hear Ted’s keyboard playing on  Loudon’s Top 20 novelty/sing along classic recording of “Dead Skunk on  the Road.”
Ted composed two dance hits,  “What The Funk” and “Get Up  And Dance” for The Memphis Horns on their 1977 RCA release Get Up &  Dance.

Ted  was a founding member of the New York New Wave Band 3-D, known for the  hits “All Night Television,” “Telephone Number,” and the classic “X-Ray  Eyes.”  3-D was signed to Polydor Records and had two albums.  Their  first features album artwork by David Alexander, the same creator of the  Eagles Hotel California album cover.
Between the years 1978 and 1980  3-D toured with The Ramones, The Cars, J. Geil’s Band, Eddie Money and  played with U2 at New York’s famed club The Ritz.  In April of 1980, 3-D  performed on Saturday Night Live, having the honor of being introduced  by legendary comedian Steve Martin.  They also shared the musical  billing on that episode with Paul McCartney. The late 80’s found Teddy  building and opening a recording studio DataBank in the Music Building  on West 30th Street in New York City.  He along with his former Road  Manager Andrew Justin would then form Smooth Records, signing New York  Blues legend and guitarist Michael Powers and Pop singer Cyndi Phillips.

In  1989 Teddy along with Ric Zivic, former lead singer for 3-D formed the  production company Ric & Ted Productions, based in New York City.   They specialize in commercials, TV shows, and industrial videos.  Their  first commercial for the children’s toy Magnadoodle would run for many  years.  Other spots included MicroMachines, SkyDancers, Cabbage Patch  Kids and the Cabbage Patch Cousins as well as supplying music for many  other children’s toys.  Additionally, Teddy has produced song parodies  for Howard Stern, music for The Learning Channel’s “Bingo & Molly”  and television’s hit show “Overhaulin’.”  

Teddy  created ProTown Music with childhood friend Henry Justin, famed hip hop  producer Dan Da Man and engineer Chris “C4” Brown.  ProTown provides  music, marketing, and media for upcoming artists.  It takes the artist  from project conception to completion and helps maximize its potential  through ProTown’s vast array of networks and marketing tools.  Teddy  also lends his keyboard talents to many projects that step foot in the  studio from all genres.

Teddy forms the  group Jazzmatik with a bunch of musician friends in the New York City  area.  Jazzmatik records both originals and previously released tracks,  with a Jazzmatik flavor!  Many covers they record are those that have  been major influences in Teddy’s career in music.

The first  Jazzmatik album, released in 2010 was simply titled Jazzmatik.  It  features the lead off single “That’s Jazzmatik.”  The tracks on this  album all have a lot of Jazz flair, yet are heavily Rock and Blues  influenced.

I Got Your Back was the second Teddy Wender &  Jazzmatik album released in 2012.  This ten song, full length CD was  packaged in a cardboard jacket, reminiscent of old vinyl albums.  It  features all originals with a unique “Jazzmatik” sound mixing fusion,  Blues and Hip Hop.

During the first quarter of 2013 Teddy Wender  & Jazzmatik would release their third LP, called The Blue Album.     The album included “Big Red Dog” which was included in the independent  film Goddess of Love.  This album features many of Teddy’s Blues  influences.  From Ray Charles, whom he met as his uncle Sid Feller was  Ray’s arranger and conductor, to Albert King, whom Teddy had the  pleasure of working with.  Teddy wanted a way to say thank you to his  idols and this was the result.  You will even hear a couple of Teddy’s  penned recordings that were heavily influenced by many Blues legends.
At  the beginning of the fourth quarter of that same year, 2013, Teddy  Wender & Jazzmatik released the fourth installment of the Jazzmatik  series Going Country.  Teddy would pen some of these tracks along with  his longtime music friend and mentor Hank Logan.  This album includes  Ted’s rendition of “Dead Skunk on The Road” and included some of the  other original musicians on his version.

A new year and a new  album.  Spring 2014 would showcase a unique album for Teddy Wender &  Jazzmatik- Old Friends.  All of the songs were written by Hank Logan,  Teddy’s old friend.  Hank and Ted originally met up at Wes Farrell’s  office back in 1969.  Hank would become Ted’s mentor.  He taught Ted how  to craft a song.  Ted and Hank would work and practice together  throughout the years.  They would even open up for country rock’s Poco  at an outdoor concert in Antioch College.  Finally, after years of being  parts of groups that were on and off, Hank and Ted joined forces into  band The Loners, who would turn down a recording deal as it wasn’t  lucrative enough.
Years later, Teddy decided to pay homage to his old friend Hank and record an album of Hank’s songs that were never released.

Rocking’  Back Volume 1 & Volume 2 would kick off 2015. Each album features  more than a dozen classic rock songs done the Jazzmatik way.  In the  last quarter of 2015, Teddy Wender and Jazzmatik released their 8th  release aptly titled Playlist, which is yet another tribute to many of  Teddy’s Rock R&B and other musical influences.  This album even  features the musicians from Teddy’s Blues side project, Long Island’s  Red White & Blues Band.  The RW&B Band as they are locally  known, play popular classic Blues and Rock songs at various clubs and  Blues Festivals throughout Long Island and the New York metropolitan  area.

2017 featured  the release of Teddy Wender and Jazzmatik's Deep Blue, the follow up to  the 2013 Blue Album containing a collection of some of Teddy's favorite  forgotten blues tracks.  2018 introduced us to Teddy's album  "Timeless" which is a thirteen track collection of Bob Dylan songs that  time cannot forget.  These are songs that Teddy has grown up with and  have been covered by the likes of Guns N Roses, Bruce Springsteen, Billy  Joel, and Peter Paul and Mary .  It even includes Teddy's  interpretation of "The Times They Are A-Changin' " which Rolling Stone  magazine has listed as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 

2019 brought us to In Their Shoes.  This collection of covers features Teddy's version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in addition to "Blueberry Hill" and Roy Orbison's "You Got It."  This is also the first full album that Teddy and crew recorded in Teddy's new studio on 35th Street.   Teddy also traveled to the west coast, where he played with famed singer, songwriter, bassist and guitarist Tal Wilkenfeld.    

2020 has been a busy year.  Teddy wrapped up his Friends Forever album, a collection of more Hank Logan songs, and released that on cd as a follow up to the 2014 release Old Friends.  And while in the studio Teddy put together an album of new songs that he wrote called Under The Radar.  That is now available on streaming services as well as a limited edition cd for your library. 

On September 11, 2020, Teddy released the song "Peace Will Come."  The song was written by Neil Rosengarden, another one of Teddy's childhood friends and Teddy.    The video was also released on Youtube and all major streaming services.  It is a timely piece, with lyrics that are very important in the world today.

The rest of 2020 into the first quarter of 2021 found Teddy was hard at work in the studio writing and creating what has became Theo.    The album includes many original songs, written by Teddy in addition to Teddy's interpretation of the classic "The Creator Has A Plan."  The album also includes  "Peace Will Come," which has garnered well over 100,000 views on social media.

2024 brings us new material from Jazzmatik.  I Am Spartacus is a fun filled original filled album that features "Interjection" from the hit podcast T.Y.S.O. (Take Your Shoes Off) featuring Rick Glassman.

Teddy is pressing up a limited number of Vinyl LPs that he will sign and give away to fans of the podcast.