[Dixielandjazz] Bobby Rosengarden Obit

[Steve Barbone]

Given the recent 'drummer" thread, one of the most versatile jazz drummers
passed away in Sarasota Florida.

Would have missed it except for list Mate Norman Vickers who first saw it.

Steve Barbone


NY TIMES - March 2, 2007 - By COREY KILGANNON

Bobby Rosengarden, 82, ŒDick Cavett Show¹ Bandleader, Dies

Bobby Rosengarden, a jazz drummer who worked with musicians from Igor
Stravinsky to Jimi Hendrix but became best known for making musical
wisecracks as the bandleader on ³The Dick Cavett Show,² died Tuesday in
Sarasota, Fla. He was 82.

The cause was kidney failure, said his wife, Sharon Rosengarden.

A veteran of television network orchestras, talk-show bands and recording
sessions, Mr. Rosengarden played bongos for Harry Belafonte, banged a metal
triangle on the Ben E. King hit record ³Stand By Me² and cupped his hands to
blow the eerie hooting hyena sound on the theme from ³The Good, the Bad and
the Ugly,² during a recording session for a radio-ready version of the song.
He played conga on ³She Cried² by Jay and the Americans, the water gong for
the pianist Dick Hyman and finger cymbals on an Arlo Guthrie recording. He
was also adept at the saw, spoons and the washboard.

But he was most at home driving a big band with a drum set. He played on
³The Steve Allen Show,² ³The Ernie Kovacs Show,² ³Sing Along With Mitch² and
in the early years of Johnny Carson¹s version of ³The Tonight Show.²

³Musically, he was a man for all seasons, just a consummate musician who
could, and did, play with everybody,² said David Barnhizer, who was a
director of ³The Dick Cavett Show² when Mr. Rosengarden led the band.

On the Cavett show, he would accompany a seemingly endless of entertainers
and banter with Mr. Cavett, and he became known for signaling ³walk on²
themes for each guest. When a guest who was a sex therapist was introduced,
the band played ³I Can¹t Get Started²; the artist Salvador Dali was greeted
with ³Hello, Dolly.²

Robert Marshall Rosengarden was born April 23, 1924, in Elgin, Ill., and
started learning percussion at the age of 4. He won a scholarship to study
music at the University of Michigan. After playing drums in Army bands in
World War II, Mr. Rosengarden moved to New York City during a golden age for
studio and jazz musicians. He developed contacts playing in nightclubs, and
by the early 1950s, his versatility and sight-reading skills made him a
frequent choice for jazz and pop recording sessions and for television
network staff orchestras.

He played with groups led by Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Skitch Henderson,
Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman. In 1965, he played a Stravinsky
piece with the Columbia Jazz Band, a recording group, with Stravinsky
conducting. He backed up singers including Billie Holliday, Carmen McRae,
Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Rosengarden is survived by his sons, Mark and
Neil, and four grandsons.

Several years ago, Mr. Rosengarden watched himself on a typical Cavett show,
from July 7, 1969. Mr. Cavett coaxed his guest Jimi Hendrix into playing a
song, backed by Mr. Rosengarden and the show¹s bassist, George Duvivier. Mr.
Rosengarden commented that his drumming on the song showed how he had
managed to mesh with so many different musical styles.

³I just stayed out of the way, baby,² he said. ³Stayed out of the way.²