RooTs
Rob's musical roots span four generations. During the Great Depression, his great grandfather Horace Riggs' income fell 60% overnight. Horace's hobby of playing the piano became a life-saver when he started accompanying silent movies for $2.50/night.
Horace eventually joined the Black Cat Entertainers, a band that held court 3 nights per week in an Indianapolis dance hall. Special requests were 10 cents per dance.
Rob's grandfather was a composer, played the piano in a traveling show, and wrote the lyrics and music to a published musical. His mother is an accomplished flutist, earning her master's degree in flute performance from Cleveland State University, where she met his father, a guitarist and composer.
Rob's sister, Christina, earned her bachelor's in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Horace Riggs (left) with the Black Cat Entertainers
rob spackey
Washington, DC-based alto, soprano and tenor saxophonist with Cleveland roots. Wynton Marsalis exclaimed, "Enough ideas in one jazz solo for 50 solos." With over 20 years of performance experience, Rob is at ease in jazz and pop ensembles as well as behind soul singers and church worship bands.
Rob studied under David Liebman, a veteran of the Miles Davis band who DownBeat magazine called, "among the most important saxophonists in contemporary music". He's been a member of the Princeton University Jazz Ensemble and Ernie Krivda's Fat Tuesday Big Band.
He's currently the saxophonist for Cecil Isaac's Straight No Chaser Band and, when gathering in-person, appears regularly with the Grace DC worship band.
