Robert “Bobby” Rosengarden

Robert “Bobby” Rosengarden was born April 23, 1924 in Elgin, Illinois. His musical family recognized Bobby’s talents early on. He began learning percussion at the age of four (4) and performed in the Wing School kindergarten band. Rosengarden attended Elgin High School, studied percussion with famed Chicago drum teacher Roy Knapp, and earned a music scholarship to the University of Michigan. Rosengarden’s education was cut short when he was drafted during World War II, and while in the Army he played drums in the Air Corps band. After the war he moved to New York City, where his musicianship and versatility kept him in high-demand at nightclubs, jazz and pop studio recording sessions, and with television orchestras at NBC and ABC. Rosengarden is best-known as the wise-cracking bandleader on the Dick Cavett Show from 1968 to 1974. He developed an easy rapport with Cavett and created clever “walk-on” themes for guests, like “Hello Dolly” for artist Salvador Dali. Cavett Show director David Barnizer remarked, “Musically, he was a man for all seasons, just a consummate musician who could, and did, play with everybody.” Rosengarden played drums for notable musicians Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Quincy Jones, Barbara Streisand, classical musician Igor Stravinsky, and many more. In 1992, Rosengarden returned to Elgin to appear with Itzhak Perlman at Congregation Kneseth Israel’s 100th anniversary celebration, and a year later, for a show at Hemmens Auditorium. In 1996, he led a band of Elgin High School graduates at a reunion, with proceeds benefiting the school’s Alumni Music Scholarship Fund. When TV network operations moved to Los Angeles, Rosengarden stayed on the East Coast, playing for jazz greats like Gerry Mulligan, and leading his own orchestra at Manhattan’s Rainbow Room. Someone asked Rosengarden how he could play with such a variety of artists and in such different styles. “I just stayed out of the way, baby,” he said. “Stayed out of the way.” Robert Rosengarden died on February 27, 2007 in Sarasota, Fla. He was 82.