Dave Robbins

Dave Robbins was born in 1923 in Greensburg, Indiana and became a naturalized Canadian in 1965. He studied at the Sam Houston State Teachers’ College attaining his BSC in 1943 and attending the University of Southern California in 1951. After university studies and terms with the U.S. Marine Corp, he played in various dance and symphony orchestras around the country. Though he became a legendary trombonist, his first instrument was the violin. He quickly established himself as one of the top trombonist/arrangers in the country while performing with the Harry James Band. He fell in love with a young lady who was touring the U.S. with Ivan Ackery’s Summer Festivals and moved to Vancouver in 1951. His arranging skills were legendary. As Canada’s top arranger for jazz bands, he had a weekly radio show on CBC and was featured on many programs on CBC TV. He taught at Vancouver Community College and at U.B.C. establishing a jazz and commercial music department. He was principal trombonist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and, for more than 30 years, with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. He also played at The Cave and Bayshore Hotel and arranged television and movie scores as well as composing his own original compositions. It is said of Dave Robbins, one of the most extraordinary Canadian musicians of the past half century, that there are many trombonists, and then there’s Dave Robbins. Dave died in his home in Gibsons in September 2005.