Robert Black

Robert Black earned recognition as a double bassist, electric bassist, and teacher who helped establish the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the electric-instrument ensemble tied to New York’s Bang on a Can collective. His career stood out for bridging conventional classical settings and experimental circles while building partnerships across stylistic boundaries.

Born in Denver, Colorado, on March 16, 1956, Black trained on double bass under Gary Karr, who founded the International Society of Bassists; Black later sat on that organization’s board of directors for a decade. In the standard classical repertory he appeared with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Ciompi String Quartet, the Miami String Quartet, and groups at several American summer festivals. Overseas he performed at the Colombo-Catalan Festival in Medellin, Colombia, the Takefu International Music Festival in Japan, and the Festival de Eleazar Carvalho in Fortaleza, Brazil; his sustained participation at the last of these events for more than twenty years brought him the title Comendador - Mérito Cultural e Artistico from the Educational, Cultural, and Artistic Elezar de Carvalho.

In 1992 he joined others in launching the Bang on a Can All-Stars and remained a frequent performer with the group. Independent projects paired him with figures such as Elliott Carter, John Cage, and jazz pianist Paquito d’Rivera. His discography includes the anthology Modern American Bass, a widely referenced survey of twentieth-century American works for the instrument, along with releases on the New World, Mode, and Cantaloupe imprints. In 2019 he issued The Not-Doings of an Insomniac, a piece he had commissioned from Philip Glass, on the composer’s Orange Mountain Music label.

Black served on the faculty of the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, where he resided, and also taught at the Manhattan College of Music. He died on June 23, 2023, during cancer treatment at the age of 67.