John Storm Roberts

John Storm Roberts, born February 24th, 1936 in London, England.
He died November 29th, 2009, in Kingston, NY.

Mr. Roberts wrote A Land Full of People, about Kenya; Black Music of Two Worlds, which covered the crossover between African, Latin and American jazz/blues music; The Latin Tinge, exploring the overall influence of Latin music on popular American culture; Latin Jazz the First Fusion, looking at the effect of early Latin music on both jazz and dance music.

He produced many recordings of African and international music under his imprint of Original Music, of Tivoli, NY, which he funded and ran from 1980 through 2000. Productions included "Africa Dances," "The Nairobi Sound," "Heavy on the Highlife," "Jamila, Songs from a Somali City," and "The Kampala Sound."

Shortly after Kenyan independence in 1964, Mr. Roberts went there to work for the East African Standard. Upon his return to England, he was a producer for the BBC Overseas Service. Mr. Roberts came to the United States in 1970 to become the editor of Africa Report, a publication of the African American Institute. From there he worked for several magazines as editor, wrote free lance articles on music and produced both books and records.

He had two children with his late first wife, Jane Lloyd, Stephen Roberts of Rochester, NY and Alice Amanda Roberts, M.D., of Cincinnati, OH. There are two grandchildren.

Besides his children, he is survived by his wife of 28 years, Anne Needham, three stepchildren and grandchildren.

Entrusted to the care of the Keyser Funeral Service, Inc., 326 Albany Avenue, Kingston, where services will be held on Thursday December 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 AM. Burial will follow in St Mary's Cemetery, Kingston.

Friends may call on Thursday from 10:30AM to 11:00AM at the funeral home.

The family suggests in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to the Ulster County SPCA,
20 Wiedy Rd, Kingston, NY 12401