Wichita to the world
Robert Gary Natanson — Bobby, to everyone who knew him — brought a lifetime of music and visual art together, the result of being born into a family where relatives painted as well as played. He studied painting at Oklahoma University and North Texas State, and became the first musical director for the Dallas Playboy Club in 1974.
He went on to play jazz festivals around the world, like Montreux with Champion Jack Dupree and Monterey with the Vince Guaraldi Quartet. He also appeared on network television including the Dean Martin Show. And, somehow, Bobby was the drummer on the original Sesame Street counting segment, with Grace Slick doing the counting.
“If they paid him to paint, fine. If not, he would paint anyway.”
Bobby found art in everything — his own philosophy made no real distinction between his painting, his drumming, his poems, or his stand-up. Explore the four rooms of his work below.
Bobby in the studio, headphones on, mid-session.