Evelyn Freeman Roberts
| Evelyn Freeman Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Evelyn Freeman |
| Born |
February 13, 1919 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Swing, classical, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Bandleader, choir leader, arranger, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
Evelyn Freeman Roberts (born February 13, 1919) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger and educator. After an early career as a swing band and gospel choir leader, she and her husband Tommy Roberts established the Young Saints foundation for young performers in Los Angeles.
She was born Evelyn Freeman in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Gertrude Evelyn (née Richardson) and Ernest Aaron Freeman. Her younger brother Ernie Freeman later became a successful composer and arranger on many records between the 1950s and 1970s. Evelyn and Ernie performed as members of The Freeman Family, and she also played piano in a classical ensemble. After meeting Duke Ellington after a performance, she determined to become a bandleader, and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1938 she formed her own swing band, before graduating in 1941.
Her orchestra, the Evelyn Freeman Swing Band, which also included her brother Ernie, performed regularly at the Circle Ballroom, Oster's Ballroom, and on radio station WHK, until many of its members were recruited by the US Navy. They became the first African-American Navy band, stationed in Indiana, and were nicknamed the "Gobs of Swing." Freeman herself continued to perform with a smaller group, which included Ben "Bull Moose" Jackson. After the end of World War II, she met bandleader Tommy Roberts. They married and moved to New York City, where she worked on vocal arrangements for the Wings Over Jordan gospel singers, performed in hotels, and worked as an arranger with vaudeville acts. In the late 1950s, she reformed the Evelyn Freeman Orchestra with new members, and it backed such singers as Peggy Lee and Frankie Laine in Las Vegas. She also wrote "The Jelly Coal Man", recorded by Laine in 1959.
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