I first became acquainted with Bobby Rosengarden's talents as a drummer when I saw that his name appeared on several of my Brazilian albums, most noteably Walter Wanderley's, where Bobby played percussion and his friend Claudio Slon played the drums. His name was also prominent on one of my trombone jazz albums led by Kai Winding. Later on in the 1970s when I watched The Dick Cavett Show on television, I saw that Bobby was the visible leader of the show's resident musicians. But he established himself long ago as one of the top and in-demand studio drummers in the U.S. and has continued to perform well into his seventh decade. I first had the pleasure of interviewing Bobby by telephone for my Walter Wanderley Pictorial Discography in February 2000.

After that interview, I approached Bobby about having his own "Official" website and I offered to build it for him (not telling him that I had most of the project already completed). I was asking him to participate in it with me, thereby allowing the use of the word "Official", and have him share at least some of the highlights of his career (which I would have then added to the site). But it was not to be. Bobby's response surprised (and shocked) me. He said that while he was appreciative of the gesture, having an "Official" site did not really interest him at that point in time due to his age and his lack of desire to work with computers. He said that a site about his accomplishments would have interested him more ten years ago, but not now. I then had to decide on what I was going to do with the work I had already completed. I still wanted to honor his accomplishments, even if it meant that he was not going to be personally involved with the project. After giving the matter even more thought, I decided to retitle the project, putting the work I had already done online--while at the same time, respecting Bobby's wishes not to get involved with it personally or bother him with requests for material. I want others to know what he has contributed to the world of music because I believe it's important. Therefore, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this site, where Bobby's volume of work is hereby presented in tribute.

Thanks and acknowledgements go out to Piet van Engelen, Sergio Ximenes of Sombras, Tom Johnson, Gregory Flores, William Kenlon, Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Ithamara Koorax for their assistance in providing album cover scans and needed listing information; to Alex Sanguinetti for his photos of Bobby; to Bobby's nephew Jon Charles for his support and site contributions; to Hans-Peter Huebschen for his wonderful, rare album scans and listing info; to Donald W. Reichle's Audio Fidelity discography for providing listing information completion and to "Jazzcorner" Willie from Germany for providing valuable album scans and listing information for several records.  I am also grateful to Jarkko Toivonen for providing additional album listings where Bobby plays drums and/or percussion.

--B.J. (Barbara J.) Major
Introduction amended 7/30/08.