On one wall hangs photographs of his family — his grandmother, his father and his mother — all playing musical instruments. Another wall displays a 1969 article from The Washington Daily News about him as a 13-year-old musical prodigy.
Of all the remembrances, however, particularly significant to him is a certificate from the District of Columbia Piano Technicians Guild awarded on May 1, 1967, to James H. Shadd, his father, a professional pianist and piano technician.
The certificate hangs as a reminder of the rich musical legacy from which he descends, Shadd said.
Shadd is a third-generation musician, second-generation piano technician and first-generation piano manufacturer, as well as the first African-American piano manufacturer in the world. It is what he was destined to do, he explained.
“I am the chosen one,” he said. “Not only am I the first African-American piano manufacturer, but unfortunately we don’t make any other musical instruments, even down to things like music stands or drumsticks or guitar strings or accessories. So, I’m kind of like the first and only.”
His company, SHADD Inc., is based in the Bronx, he said, but at his home in Maryland, he houses eight of his creations, including the acoustic concert grand piano that was played on “American Idol” last season and one that Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Richard Smallwood used to record on his upcoming album.
Smallwood, who once accompanied opera legend Leontyne Price at a White House Christmas celebration, had nothing but praise for Shadd’s pianos.
“First of all, for a pianist, it feels and sounds like every piano you’ve ever wanted to play,” he said. “Your dream piano in terms of the highs, the lows, the mids, the harmonics. It’s just an incredible piece of work.
“Not only does it have wonderful sound, but it’s beautiful, just a gorgeous piece of furniture. I would play it every day.”
Producing world-class instruments wasn’t always Shadd’s dream. After withdrawing from Howard University when he got a record deal, he toured as a drummer with famous jazz artists like Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Smith, Joe Williams, Lionel Hampton, and his aunt Shirley Horn.
He also performed in the Broadway hit musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’” with singer Nell Carter and the original cast until Carter, who went on to television fame, decided she wanted to stop the show and tour privately.
“As a musician, you’re out of work immediately,” Shadd said, explaining the unpredictable nature of the industry. “Then you’re trying to catch onto the next [show.] Each time it becomes arduous, and you still have bills to pay.”
Shadd said he thought long and hard about how to sustain himself without relying on other people. He said he decided to work on pianos, which he learned to do in his parents’ basement when he was in junior high and high school.
“I took the resources that I had and made something happen out of those particular resources, which actually helped me later on when it came to formulating my ideas of what are the best parts in a piano to make it sound great,” he said.
Special to the NNPA from the Washington Informer via Howard University News Service