Tom Constanten (aka TC), composer and the second keyboardist for the Grateful Dead, was born on March 19, 1944 in Long Branch, New Jersey. In the fall of 1961, he met future Deadbassist Phil Lesh while studying astronomy at U.C. Berkeley in California. The two hit it off famously. Soon, they were rooming together, cranking out avant-garde compositions. They enrolled at the legendary Mills College to study with composer Luciano Berio. When Berio invited the pair to accompany him to Europe, Constanten eagerly accepted, while Lesh stayed States-side.
While in Germany, Constanten studied with many of the luminaries of the contemporary classical music world, including Pierre Boulez, Karleheinz Stockhausen, and Henri Pousseur. Following a stint in the air force in 1965 and '66 (to avoid the draft), Constanten rejoined Lesh as a member of the now artistically thriving Grateful Dead. Constanten brought an experimental influence to an already wildly eclectic (and just plain wild) ensemble.
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