- Birth name: Robby Ameen
- Born: December 7, 1960 New Haven, CT USA
- Genres: Jazz
- Occupation: Musician
- Instruments: Drums, composer, bandleader, educator
- Labels: Messidor, EWE, GRP, Electra-Asylum, Nonesuch, Warner Bros. Records, Half Note, American Clave, Xtra Watt, Sanctuary, II Manifesto, American Clave/Enja, Two and Four Records.
- Associated Acts: Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Valentin, Eddie Palmieri, Paul Simon, Jack Bruce, Kip Hanrahan, Conrad Herwig, Carly Simon, Mongo Santamaria, Hilton Ruiz, Kirsty MacColl.
- Influences: Ed Blackwell.
- On the Web: RobbyAmeen.com
Robby, although he is of Lebanese origin, is best known for his unique and powerful Afro-Cuban style and is considered one of the world’s most foremost drummers in Latin Jazz. He studied drum set with Ed Blackwell and classical percussion with Fred Hinger and has a BA in Literature from Yale College 1982.
In 2011 he won a Latin Grammy for best Salsa record with Ruben Blades and Seis del Solar, “Todos Vuelven Live, Vol. 1 and 2.”
As a sideman, Robby has recorded with numerous artists including Grammy winning records with Ruben Blades and Seis del Solar’s “Escenas” and Brian Lynch’s “Simpatico”. In 2012, Robby was the subject of an episode of the Emmy Award-winning Detroit Public Television series “Arab American Stories.”
As a session musician, Robby has recorded numerous jingles, film scores, and TV music, including the popular HBO series Sex and the City.
As an educator, Robby is the co-author with bassist Lincoln Goines of the best-selling instructional book “Funkifying the Clave: Afro-Cuban drums for Bass and Drums” (Alfred Music). He is an international clinician and percussion/drum festival participant, including Modern Drummer Festival, Montreal DrumFest, FrankfurtMesse, PASIC, and NAMM.
Feature articles about Robby have appeared in such magazines as Modern Drummer, Drumhead Magazine, Rhythm, Latin Beat, Batteur, Percussionisti, among others. Recently, he has been included in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.
Robby is currently on the faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
