Charles Luckyth Roberts (August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1968), better known as Luckey Roberts, was an American composer and stride pianist who worked in the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

styles.

Biography

Luckey Roberts was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States, and was playing piano and acting professionally with traveling

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

s in his childhood. He settled in New York City about 1910 and became one of the leading pianists in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, and started publishing some of his original rags. Roberts toured France and the UK with

James Reese Europe James Reese Europe (February 22, 1881 – May 9, 1919) was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African Americans music scene of New York City in the 1910s. Eubie Blake called hi ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, then returned to New York where he wrote music for various shows and recorded piano rolls. With

James P. Johnson James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...

, Roberts developed the

stride piano Stride jazz piano, often shortened to stride, is a jazz piano style that arose from ragtime players. Prominent stride pianists include James P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, Luckey Roberts, Mrs Mills a ...

style of playing about 1919. Roberts' reach on the keyboard was unusually large (he could reach a fourteenth), leading to a rumor that he had the webbing between his fingers surgically cut, which those who knew him and saw him play live denounce as false; Roberts simply had naturally large hands with wide finger spread. In the 1920s, Roberts teamed up with lyricist Alex C. Rogers and co-wrote three Broadway musicals, ''Go-Go'' (1923), ''Sharlee'' (1923) and ''My Magnolia'' (1926), the later which starred

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hal ...

, a major black revue star. Luckey Roberts noted compositions include "Junk Man Rag", "

Moonlight Cocktail "Moonlight Cocktail" is a 1941 big band song recorded by Glenn Miller during World War II. The music was composed by Luckey Roberts with lyrics by Kim Gannon. Background The song was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on De ...

", "Pork and Beans", and "Railroad Blues". "Moonlight Cocktail" was recorded by the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

, and was the best selling record in the United States for ten weeks in 1942. An astute businessman, Roberts became a millionaire twice through real estate dealings. He died in New York City and is buried at the Frederick Douglass Memorial Gardens in Bay Terrace,

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

References

Bibliography

* * Scivales Riccardo (ed.), ''Harlem Stride Piano Solos'', Katonah, New York, Ekay Music, 1990.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Luckey 1887 births 1968 deaths African-American jazz composers African-American jazz pianists American blues pianists American male pianists Blackface minstrel performers Musicians from Philadelphia Ragtime composers Ragtime pianists Stride pianists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania American male jazz composers American jazz composers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century African-American male singers

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

External links