Roberta Martin

In the 1930s this skilled pianist launched a quartet alongside Theodore Frye, an ensemble that steadily developed into The Roberta Martin Singers by the 1950s. Her keyboard approach replicated the style of blind pianist Arizona Dranes, the same musician who shaped The Ward Singers. Members of the Roberta Martin Singers delivered their parts with force and theatrical intensity. Balanced harmonies never ranked as a priority, so backing voices stayed clearly audible whether a man or a woman carried the lead. That absence of uniformity produced an urgent quality that stood apart from the uniform quartets then dominating the field. Robert Anderson served as one of her chief vocalists. Within gospel circles she acquired the title The Helen Hayes of the Gospel World. She died in 1969.