Robbins, Adelaide

Adelaide Robbins was born in Manhattan (New York, New York) to a father who was a pianist and arranger and a mother who was a dancer on Broadway. She grew up as an only child in the theater district where she was exposed to the arts from a young age. She began piano lessons at age six and began working professionally by the age of 12. She attended the High School of Music and Art for four years.

Robbins’ knowledge and abilities of the bass earned her a full scholarship to the Eastman School of Music. All of the jobs she had during high school and college were music related; either playing gigs or teaching. She felt over-extended and eventually transferred to the Manhattan School of Music. Her extra credits from Eastman allowed Robbins to obtain a master’s degree inside of a year.

Robbins went on the road with Buddy Rich’s band where they played in Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California before finding their way to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1967. She was always the only woman in the band, and there were difficulties of being a woman in the field of mostly male musicians. The first job she had in Las Vegas was playing solo piano at Guys and Dolls before moving on to playing as a rehearsal pianist for a Broadway show. Over the years, Robbins played many venues with many famous musicians.