Robert Greenidge


Robert Greenidge is a steelpan player. He is a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini. Greenidge has also collaborated with artists such as Robert Palmer, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Taj Mahal, Ringo Starr, Earth, Wind & Fire and Carly Simon.

Career

Greenidge began performing as a pannist at age eight and performed internationally beginning in his teens. During 1970 he represented Trinidad and Tobago as a soloist and as a member of Trinidad and Tobago National Steel Orchestra. Within the next year he migrated to the United States where he studied and played music.
Greenidge went on to play on Carly Simon's 1976 album Another Passenger, Ringo Starr's 1976 LP Ringo's Rotogravure and Robert Palmer's 1978 album Double Fun. He then performed on Grover Washington Jr.'s 1980 album Winelight and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1980 LP Double Fantasy. He also featured on JJ Cale's 1982 album Grasshopper, Earth Wind and Fire's 1983 album Powerlight and Jimmy Buffett's 1983 LP One Particular Harbour. Greenidge later played on Jimmy Buffett's 1984 album Riddles in the Sand and Steve Perry's 1984 LP Street Talk.
He went on to perform on Buffet's 1985 album Last Mango in Paris, his 1986 release Floridays, Robert Palmer's 1989 album and Buffett's 1984 album Fruitcakes.
From 1978 to 1983, he played and toured with blues singer Taj Mahal. During 1986, Greenidge released his own album, Mad Music, with fellow Coral Reefer Michael Utley. He has continued to record with Utley as Club Trini. He continued to work in his native country and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival every year since 1979. He won the national steelband competition Panorama twice with the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra in 1991 and 1994, both times with his own compositions.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Robert Greenidge among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography

"A Coral Reefer Christmas" – Robert Greenidge