Sharon Robinson

[Broken Hill]

Hi out there !
Can anybody tell me what year singer Sharon Robinson was born.

All the best,
Ólafur

[tomsakic]

Hi Olafur,
between 50 or 51 and 57 I'd say. I conducted an interview with her thru emails, in 2004, but she avoided that kind of answers.

In the end, who actually is Sharon Robinson? We know you’re a Grammy winner, but there’s almost no other information about you, not even when you were born? How were you raised and educated?

I was born in San Francisco, California. My parents were real estate and restaurant entrepreneurs. We moved to Los Angeles when I was quite young and I grew up here, interestingly, about a block from Leonard’s L.A. home. I studied classical piano from the age of 6, became fairly accomplished at it, started writing and recording songs at age 12, worked after school at the parents’ restaurants (the radio was always on), was a national merit finalist, attended a small college in West Virginia for three years as a liberal arts major, auditioned and got into California Institute of the Arts where I studied for only a year as the need to make a living prevailed. The real musical education began when I started singing and playing piano in bands, night after night on the road, covering songs by all of the great recording artists of our time. I relied on my ears a lot, but the formal training was invaluable for »reading« at sessions, writing, and arranging.

I guess he was about 20 when she started to tour with L in 1979.

How old were you when you met Leonard, and can you tell us something about your first days and that tour of 1979?

I consider being hired for the Field Commander tour to be one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Mostly because of the music. The whole experience was magical. Being on stage in beautiful halls, performing »The Guests« and »Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye« with brilliant musicians and a rapt audience. Leonard’s words. Jenny’s unbelievable voice. And the icing on the cake for me: after intermission, listening from offstage as Leonard went out by himself to do »The Stranger Song«. As you can tell, the experience resonates with me still. It was great being part of that tour.

[Broken Hill]

Thank you for the information.
Ólafur.