Everett Robbins

Everett Robbins
Birth nameEverett Robbins
Born1899 (1899)
OriginMuskogee, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedApril 16, 1926(1926-04-16) (aged 26–27)
GenresJazz
Blues
Occupation(s)Pianist, bandleader, composer
InstrumentPiano

Everett "Happy"[1] Robbins (1899 – April 16, 1926) was a Chicago-based pianist,[2] bandleader and composer.

Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1899,[3] he moved to Chicago in 1916 and studied at the American Conservatory of Music.[4] He started his musician career in 1919 as a pianist for James Like's orchestra.[3]

Lineups of his bands in the 1920s, such as Everett and his Syncopated Robins, included Eddie Vincent,[5] Benney Fields, Jimmy Dudley, William Hoy, and Henry Johnson,[6] while Everett Robbins' Jazz Screamers included Bob Shoffner.[7]

As well as leading his own bands, he also recorded, as a pianist, in 1922, with Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, coinciding with Garvin Bushell, Coleman Hawkins, Bubber Miley and Herb Flemming.[8]

Robbins made piano rolls for the Capitol Roll & Record Company[2] and is possibly most known for "Ain't Nobody's Business", a song he co-wrote with Porter Grainger in 1922. Both pianists played in Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds around the same time, but as they played the same instrument, they are unlikely to have coincided.

He died in April 16, 1926, following a year of illness, when he was only 27 years old.[3]

  1. ^ Hennessey, Thomas (1994) From Jazz to Swing: African American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890 - 1935, p. 58. Wayne State University Press At Google Books. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Frank Himpsl Archive "Everett Robbins" Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Dinosaur Discs (July 1964). Record Research 61.
  4. ^ Record Research, Numbers 57-72. Record Research., 1964 at Google Books. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  5. ^ Gushee, Lawrence (2005) Pioneers of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band, p. 246. Oxford University Press at Google Books. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  6. ^ Gibbs, Craig Martin (2012) Black Recording Artists, 1877-1926: An Annotated Discography, p. 196. McFarland At Google Books. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  7. ^ Yanow, Scott Biography: Bob Shoffner allmusic. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  8. ^ Gibbs, Craig Martin (2012) Black Recording Artists, 1877-1926: An Annotated Discography, p. 111-2. McFarland At Google Books. Retrieved 15 May 2013.