Tom Roberts (pianist)

Tom Roberts (born 1962) is an American pianist, composer, and arranger, a specialist in the stride piano style, and an expert on early jazz piano and jazz recordings. Tom is a master of all early jazz piano styles including ragtime, boogie woogie, swing, New Orleans jazz, and Harlen Stride piano. Early years Tom Roberts grew up in Swisshelm Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was the eldest of three brothers. His grandparents lived across the street and Roberts learned to play piano on his grandmother’s player piano. for three years while continuing to pursue his goal of performing jazz. After giving Leon Redbone an audition tape, he caught the man’s attention and Redbone offered Roberts a contract to go on tour with him. In Roberts’s first performance on that tour, he played on stage at The Tonight Show During his stay there, Roberts released his first solo album, Night Cap, in 1999. New York City In late 1999, Roberts relocated to New York City. In 2003, he performed twice at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Roberts formed the Allegheny City Ragtime Orchestra in order to share lost ragtime music, especially music written by local Pittsburgh composers, with a contemporary aud