Musician Guides/Current Calendar Ranking

Verified Global Musician

Hank Roberts

Hank Roberts is a cellist, vocalist, composer, improviser, and bandleader whose projects connect jazz, folk melody, new music, rock, and long collaborations.

CelloVocalistComposerImproviser3 current shows
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Photo source · Photo: Hans Peter Schaefer, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Career Overview

About Hank Roberts

Roberts’s official biography describes a cello, voice, and composition practice spanning jazz, abstract improvisation, folk melody, new music, and rock. It traces his emergence in New York’s downtown scene and a long recording relationship with guitarist Bill Frisell.[1]

The official music archive distinguishes Roberts’s trio and sextet, solo and co-led albums, string projects, and recurring Frisell work. Ten leader and co-leader records for Winter & Winter sit alongside independent releases and later ensemble recordings.[1][2]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, cellist, vocalist, and composer

Hank Roberts Trio and Sextet

Roberts’s named ensembles provide separate small- and larger-group settings for his compositions.[1][2]

Cellist, vocalist, and collaborator

Bill Frisell groups

The official biography documents a recording and touring relationship extending from the mid-1980s into Frisell’s Harmony group.[1]

Cellist, composer, and co-leader

Arcado and string projects

Roberts’s discography includes cooperative string ensembles and composed work beyond his named trio.[2]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

1987

Black Pastels

Leader, cellist, vocalist, and composer

The early leader album introduces Roberts’s combination of cello, composition, voice, and improvisation.[1][2]

Release details

2011

Everything Is Alive

Leader, cellist, vocalist, and composer

The official music archive presents this record as a later statement in Roberts’s leader catalog.[2]

Release details

2021

Trio Love Call

Co-leader, cellist, and composer

The trio recording places Roberts in a cooperative setting preserved through the artist’s Bandcamp.[1][3]

Release details

Artist-Authorized Destinations

Start Listening

Hank Roberts on Bandcamp

Stream artist-authorized trio, string, and collaborative releases featuring Roberts on cello.

Official music archive

Explore Roberts’s leader albums, trio, sextet, and long-running project chronology.

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Fri, Sep 25, 8:00 PM

Bill Frisell & Harmony Five at The Freight

The Freight · Berkeley

Show details

Sat, Sep 26, 8:00 PM

Bill Frisell And Harmony Five at The Freight

The Freight · Berkeley

Show details

Wed, Sep 30, 8:00 PM

ZEBULON :: HARMONY FIVE Featuring Petra Haden, Hank Roberts, Luke Bergman & Tim Angulo at Zebulon

Zebulon · Los Angeles

Show details

Evidence-Based Connections

Related Musician Guides

Connections below come from shared current Jazz DateBook bills or normalized documented performance roles—not subjective similarity.

Bill FrisellGuitar · Composer3 shared current showsBenny Benack IIITrumpet · VocalsShared documented roles: Vocalist · ComposerBrian BladeDrums · ComposerShared documented roles: Vocalist · ComposerCécile McLorin SalvantVocals · ComposerShared documented roles: Vocalist · ComposerEric ShifrinPiano · VocalistShared documented roles: Vocalist · ComposerGiulio Xavier CettoAcoustic bass · Electric bassShared documented roles: Vocalist · Composer

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Official biography and project history

    Hank Roberts

  2. [2] Official leader and collaborative music archive

    Hank Roberts

  3. [3] Artist-authorized recording catalog

    Hank Roberts