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.

CelloVocalistComposerImproviser0 current shows
Saved only on this device

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

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

No current Jazz DateBook dates are listed for Hank Roberts. The career guide remains available while the calendar changes.

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