Meet Robert Rawlins

Robert Rawlins is Professor of Music Theory at Rowan University, where he has taught for 20 years.  He received his Ph.D. in Musicology from Rutgers University.  Rawlins is the author of six books, including Jazzology and The Real Dixieland Book, and has published more than 100 articles in dozens of journals, including Downbeat, Jazz Educator's Journal, American Music, Popular Music and Society, and The Journal of Popular Culture.  In addition, he has written liner and program notes for dozens of CDs and concerts.

Robert plays the clarinet, saxophone, and flute and has been a professional musician his entire life.  He has worked with hundreds of entertainers, including Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Jay Leno, Regis Philbin, Rosemary Clooney, The Temptations, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and Michael Feinstein.  In his early days, Robert played with some of the last surviving big band leaders, including Bob Crosby, Sammy Kaye, Warren Covington, Les & Larry Elgart, Ray McKinley, Si Zentner, and Billy Eckstine.  He was once a regular member of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of trumpeter Lee Castle, and played for the very last performance of the original Mills Brothers.  Robert is also a former member of the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra.  

In recent years he has focused his activities on traditional jazz venues, performing frequent engagements with the Tri-State Jazz Society, The Cape May Traditional Jazz Society, The South Jersey Jazz Society, and The Potomac River Jazz Club.  He has also performed in the Olde Kings Jazz Festival, the Berks Jazz Festival, The Hot Steamed Jazz Festival, and the Exit 0 Jazz Festival.

His love affair with jazz began in high school, when he and a group of friends formed a band called The New Chicago Rhythm Kings, modeling themselves after the famous Austin High Gang of the 1920s.  They learned the style by listening to early jazz records, just as the Austin High students did may decades before.  Since then Robert has played and listened to all kinds of jazz, but the 1920s have always held a particular fascination for him.  A South Jersey native, Robert lives in Clayton, NJ, with his wife and daughter.  He recently spent a sabbatical year in New Orleans, living in the French Quarter and performing in various jazz venues.