Carol Robbins

Grammy nominated Carol Robbins was born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles, where piano lessons at an early age inspired her to experiment with jazz improvisation. By age ten she was studying harp and eventually became one of the handful of students ever accepted by the late pioneering harpist Dorothy Ashby.  One of the world’s few jazz harpists, Ms. Robbins has recorded and performed with an eclectic variety of artists including Billy Childs, Manhattan Transfer, Brian Wilson, Bjork, Dianne Reeves, Linda Ronstadt, Nina Simone, Teddy Edwards and Frank Sinatra. Her memorable television credits include Cheers, Frazier and The Tonight Show. Recent highlight appearances have included a live radio broadcast on KCRW with Australian singer Sia, a duo with Bea Arthur at the Hollywood Bowl in A Tribute to Peggy Lee, and an engagement as performer and instructor at the Lyon Healy International Harp Conference in Salt Lake City. Several of her jazz arrangements for harp have been published by Vanderbilt Editions, and her two independently-produced jazz CDs, "Three and Four" and "Chords in Blue" are available on Amazon.com, cdbaby.com and through many harp-related retailers. Her third CD, "Jazz Play" of primarily original compositions was released February 14, 2006. The CD has received several rave reviews. Robbins' radio interview about the project can be heard in the "Crossover" archives on www.wrti.org. Ms Robbins has played harp in Billy Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble since 2000. The group’s first CD “Lyric” was nominated for 3 Grammys and Childs won Best Composition for "Into The Light". This year Ms Robbins will be performing in concert and in clubs in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco with her group, with Childs’ ensemble, and with the exciting new electronica band "Bitter Sweet".