leader and composer

Born in York, Pennsylvania, Bob graduated from Ohio State University, and taught public school music in Ohio. He moved to New York City, where he played tenor saxophone with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Charlie Mingus, and Al Haig.

He became a piano tuner for the New York City Public Schools, and for Johnny Guarneiri, Carmen Cavallero, Guy Lombardo, Xavier Cugat, Eubie Blake, Lalo Shifrin, Ray Charles, Murray Pirhana, Stan Kenton, Al Haig and for all the major New York hotels - the Roosevelt, Delmonico's, Americana, Astor, Statler, and the Waldorf-Astoria among others. Here he is with Stan Kenton.

Bob played saxophone, clarinet, flute, oboe, guitar, trumpet, trombone and drums professionally. During the formative years or Rock and Roll, he played regularly at the Peppermint Lounge with Ray Milan and the Quarternotes.

He studied the Schillinger System of Musical Composition with Richard Benda for several years, and organized and conducted his experimental Atonal Jazz Band - an organization which at various times included Wayne Andre, Dave Izenson, Eddie Gomez, and Don Ellis.

Bob has played for many private parties, as well as for people such as Dustin Hoffman, who sat in on piano and he has accompanied Dizzy Gillespie.

He formed the Original Swing Era Big Band to play the original charts of the big bands, and appeared weekly for several years at the Village Gate in Greenwich Village. It was at the Village Gate that Eubie Blake first met him, and commented, "You've got that same thing Glenn Miller had". Shortly thereafter, Eubie's friends auditioned the orchestra for the Rainbow Room.

Bob wrote a Ballroom Dance Library for nine musucians, including the theme-song "In the Rainbow Room", and for several years thereafter he was one of the regular 'house band's' in the Rainbow Room (65th floor of Rockefeller Center).

Interspersed with the Rainbow Room engagements were appearances at Opening Day at Shea Stadium, the Red Blazer, Fairfield University, Columbia University, Seton Hall University. Rutgers University, and many fund-raisers, park concerts, street fairs, weddings, and other venues including dinner-dances at the United Nations, Princeton University, Columbia University, American University of Beirut, the Waldorf Astoria, New York Hilton, and Madison Square Garden.

The band played for a Warren Buffet's birthday party, and for New Year's Eves at the Headquarters Plaza Hotel (Morristown) , Glen Cove Dinner Theater, Elmsford Dinner Theater, Trenton Country Club, Roseland, and the Sagamore Hotel (Lake George), ABC Christmas parties, the Lupus Foundation, Morristown Hospital, Doctor's Eye and Ear Hospital, jazz concerts at the KOOL jazz Festivaal. the Red Parrot, Studio 54, the Underground, at Madison Square Garden for the New York Rangers, Mayflower Hotel (Washington DC), as well as New York's Cat Club and concerts in the park.

As a 'show band', they backed Bobby Rydell, Odetta, Dick Cavett, Treat Williams, Famous Amos, Teresa Brewer, Phyllis Diller, Ann Reinking, Honey Coles, and Henny Youngman.

At the request of Kevin McKenzie, Bob and the band played for the American Ballet Theater, and Bob orchestrated music for the corps de ballet to dance the Charleston, and for a tango danced by Makrova and Raul Julia. He recorded an album of his own music, and the 'pep band music' used by the New York Yankees.

During a long-term engagement while at Roseland Ballroom in New York, Bob took dancing lessons, so he could better adjust the tempos to please each type of dancer - the professionals, as well as amateurs. However, when Roseland turned to disco and reduced the number of days it was open for ballroom dancing, Bob decided to do something else with his life.

Kurt Masur (conductor of the New York Philharmonic) phoned, and invited Bob's orchestra to play for a Christmas party the Maestro was giving for his musicians. He played for the New York Philharmonic musicians, and after a few months, the Maestro recommended him to play for the 1995 New York Quadrille Ball.

The Quadrille Ball is one of the great, elegant New York Balls, requiring Quadrilles, Polkas, and Waltzes in the Strauss style, as well as American ballroom music. For this engagement, Bob assembled a Strauss-style group of twenty of New York's finest musicians (the basic Rainbow Room instrumentation, plus eleven strings and a synthesizer). He re-orchestrated many of his favorite Strauss selections, in the way they were originally played for dancing. The music was fabulous! The committee was grateful to Maestro Masur for having recommended Bob, and said that this was the best dance music they had heard in thirty years.

Bob continues to compose, orchestrate, and conduct, all the music for each of the orchestras and bands which he leads and conducts.

He loves the music business, and is proud to continue making music in the grand tradition of the composer/dance-band leaders: Johann Strauss, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and Chuck Berry

And still, he continues to search for new musical challenges.