He has been an internationally recognized pianist, record artist, educator and composer 20 years since Reginald Robinson was first discovered as a young self-taught, against-the grain composer and pianist. His passion for music began in 1984 when his brother Marlando started playing Big band jazz records at their home. He then moved on to ragtime in 7th grade, when an arts program funded by the city (Urban Gateways), offered an assembly featuring a small jazz group. Orbert Davis, a jazz trumpeter, led the assembly. Ari Brown was also part of the band. The group performed a portion of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” during the show. Reginald liked this music and decided to continue playing it. His parents bought a small electronic keyboard later that year and a real piano the next year. He began learning how to write and read music after his parents were unable to provide a music education. He learned to self-question from music education books, created his own piano exercises, and studied published music scores and recordings. 1992 was the year Reginald began his professional music career. Jon Weber, a fellow musician, introduced him to Reginald. Weber immediately funded Reginald’s first demo, The Strongman. Later, the demo was used in his 1993 debut Delmark release. Reginald composed new music in 1995 for Frank Galati’s play “Each One As She May”. That same year, Reginald was nominated for the Joseph Jefferson Award for best original music. His music was part of the 2003 play “Intimate Apparel”, written by Lynn Nottage. It was nominated at the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Theatre Awards for best music director. He was presented the John D. Award in 2004.
