Tuesdays on the Tube: George Roberts, Mr. Bass Trombone
It is with a heavy heart to say that one of the nice guys, George Roberts, passed away this last Sunday. George Roberts, a.k.a., Mr. Bass Trombone, was one of the true icons in the LA Studio scene. Having been on over 6000 recordings, he was on the film scores for Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and many others. He is most notable for being a part of Nelson Riddle’s orchestra during the Frank Sinatra years. If you hear any low notes on Sinatra’s tunes, it is probably George Roberts. Known for his sweet silky sound and able to pop out pedal notes, Mr. Bass Trombone always played on a single-valve bass trombone, a rarity in today’s bass trombone circles.
Not only was his playing extraordinary, Mr. Roberts was a truly genuine person. Always with a great smile, whenever he came in contact with someone, he made them feel special as if they were a close friend. If you would like to know more about his life and legacy, check out this great resource, www.georgerobertstribute.com
I want to tell a story about a personal encounter that I had with Mr. Roberts as a teenager. In 2004, my parents and I attended the International Trombone Festival in Ithaca, NY. Dad had the privilege of presenting a seminar from his doctoral dissertation on the life and influence of Allen Ostrander, former bass trombonist of the New York Philharmonic, and his former teacher. As a 16-year old attending the festival, I was on trombone cloud nine since I was surrounded by many great players such as Nitzan Haroz, Edward Kleinhammer, Jay Friedman, Charles Vernon, Peter Sullivan (my former teacher), The Philadelphia Orchestra Trombone Section, and Douglas Yeo.
And George Roberts was also in attendance. I was walking around the exhibits one day and Mr. Roberts was sitting at the Kanstul exhibit as an endorser of one of their bass trombones. As I passed by the exhibit, he stopped me and said, “Son, pick up one of those horns and play something.” So I stopped and picked one up and asked what should I play and he said anything. So I started playing a simple Bordogni etude. When I stopped, he asked me, “Well, what did you think?” I said I thought it was a good horn and that I liked the sound of it.
He then pointed at me and with his great smile said, “YOU made that horn sound good!”
My heart was beating a mile a minute. I still get chills whenever I think of that moment. That moment was so influential on my playing then and even to this day. Every time I pick up my bass trombone, his sound is one of the first that comes to mind, and I try to match that exact sound in my head.
There are many videos of him online some of when he was quite young, others of him playing internationally. But today, I want to show a video of just how great his ballade playing continued on even after his health was slowly going down. Even though Mr. Roberts battled MS in his last years of life, he always looked at the positive aspects of life, and that showed in his playing. When he starts playing on this video, close your eyes and just listen….listen to how well he made the bass trombone a singing instrument.
George Roberts, we will miss you. Thank you for sharing your life and your incredible gift.
