Robert Martin

Robert Martin, the son of two opera singers from Philadelphia, is a conservatory-trained French Horn player. He is also a gifted athlete, and he sports a genius IQ. A classic overachiever, he taught himself to play piano and all the brass instruments in elementary school. He learned all the reed instruments shortly thereafter. In high-school, aside from being a national honor society academic student, an undefeated wrestler, and an unusually gifted gymnast, he was first chair horn in the Pennsylvania All-State Orchestra and Band and number-one bass in the All-State Choir. Although he had attracted the attention of professional baseball scouts as an all-star shortstop, he decided to pursue a career in music. He spent three years at the Temple University College of Music on a full scholarship. Then he auditioned for Mason Jones, principle horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra and was accepted into the prestigious Curtis Institute with Jones. At Curtis, he played week after week under the greatest conductors in the world. After three semesters, the lure of rock and roll drew him away from the classics and into the life of a touring musician, playing R&B, jazz, and rock. There, he utilized all his versatility as a keyboard player, sax player, vocalist, even managing to incorporate the French Horn into his performance arsenal.

In the late 1970's, he came to the attention of the group "Orleans," based out of Woodstock, New York. After a few years of recording and touring with that successful group, he auditioned for Frank Zappa and would perform on all of Frank's tours and live albums from that time on. In between tours with Zappa, he toured as Musical Director for Bette Midler, and toured or performed with Paul McCartney, Michael McDonald, Stevie Nicks, Boz Scaggs, Etta James, and many others. In 1983, he recorded a solo album for MCA Records, featuring all of his vocal, instrumental, and writing talents. He has recorded with Prince, the Moody Blues, Lyle Lovett, Gladys Knight, Glenn Frey, Bobby Caldwell, The Stylistics, The O'Jays, Sheila E, and a long list of other artists. For Wilson Pickett, Robert played keyboards and horns, did all the arrangements and backing vocals and co-produced Pickette's Grammy nominated album. Since 1986, he has owned and operated his own studio and branched out into programming, producing, and music for film and television. He is currently the composer for the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning television show, "Cybill," on CBS.

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