Bobby Floyd is a jazz legend. And his life has come full circle. While being surrounded by great musicians in the Neighborhood section of Columbus early in his career – and after traveling the world – he now finds himself giving back.
“When you play jazz, you improvise,” he recently told a music class at his alma mater – Marion Harding High School. “We kept the same chord structure and the form of the song, and we soloed on top of that form,” he offered after playing a jazz selection on the piano with his trio. “That’s what you do when you play jazz.”
In ninth grade at Marion Harding High School, he formed the Bobby Floyd Trio w percussionist Bob Breithaupt, later a professor of music at Capital University and along with Bob Burton.
Floyd, born in Marion in 1954, began playing piano in church next to his mother at age seven. He had to wait until he was ten to play the organ when his feet could reach the pedals.
His career started in Columbus in 1973. While he attended Ohio State, he started playing the nightclubs and bars in the Neighborhood, the east side music scene around Mt Vernon Ave and Long Street, including a bar called My Brother’s Place. Bobby collaborated with local legends like singer Mary McClendon and trumpeter Bobby Alston.
Then, his phone started ringing.
In 1984, Bobby got a call from Ray Charles’ keyboard player. He had fallen ill and needed a substitute. Bobby was in Indianapolis the next day for a concert. He toured with Ray and his big band all over the United States and parts of Europe. Bobby played piano before Ray would come out on stage and then he moved to the organ to accompany the legend.
Two years later Ray Charles himself called, asking Bobby to join his band as a regular. According to Columbus writer Ray Paprocki, the call came the same day Bobby’s wife Marilyn went into labor with their daughter. Bobby was only 30 at the time. Family responsibilities came first.
Floyd did get return calls to play with Charles for the next fifteen years. Ray passed in 2004.
Nationally known trumpeter Wynton Marsalis showed up at the Grandview Cafe after his concert at Mershon, in September 1995, to check out for himself this keyboardist he had heard a lot about. Wynton and Bobby ended up jamming together for two hours.
Floyd played for six years with the Count Basie Orchestra. He sat at Basie’s revered piano stool for the Grammy-nominated album “All About That Basie.” He even got a call to join them for a summer concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in July 2015.
Local legend Hank Marr – who Bobby considered one of his mentors – played organ for the Columbus Jazz Orchestra before he passed in 2004. Floyd has had the honors ever since.
“I love that big organ sound,” Floyd says of the Hammond B3. “It’s so soulful. It’s almost like an animal, like a lion roaring, if you play it the right way.”
Bobby’s wife Marilyn was a teacher of the hearing impaired. She says her husband has absolute pitch, the ability to identify the pitch of a tone by ear. Bobby taught music and jazz at Ohio State. He owns his own private studio.
Courtesy of Columbus Monthly.
Of late, Floyd has traveled the United States, performing as a featured soloist with the Boston Pops, Rochester Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and many others.
Two years ago, Bobby served as jazz artist in residence at Michigan State University. “Although people know about him, they don’t realize he is as great as he is,” said Rodney Whitaker, MSU Director of Jazz Studies. “He’s incredible. Hands down the best in the world.”
Bobby Floyd received a tile in 2015 on the Walk of Fame at the Lincoln Theatre in the King Arts District in Columbus. Late that same year, local singer Shaun Booker and guitarist Sean Carney released the bluesy CD, Blue Plate Special, of which Bobby contributed. Three minutes into the five minute song Restless Smile, his Hammond roars with an ‘oh so soulful’ rift.
Floyd played the Blues with Byron Stripling and the entire Columbus Jazz Orchestra at the Southern Theatre in Feb 2025. He also recently paid tribute to local legend Nancy Wilson with an entire evening dedicated to her music at the Lincoln Theatre.
Bobby has maintained a regular gig in Columbus for decades and at 71 is still going strong. Every Sunday night he hosts a regular jam session at Natalies Grandview where anything and anyone could happen. He encourages young, local artists to show up and get on stage with him. If they’re good enough, maybe they’ll jam the night away.
On a cold January Sunday night in 2024, my wife and I went to check out the legend. A local trumpeter in the crowd, 21-yr-old Ivan Murray, did make it up on stage and got the crowd going. Ivan plays with the local Pawpaw Orchestra on Thursday nights at Dick’s Den. He ended up playing from halfway through Bobby’s final set until the very end. A legend possibly seeing his younger self. So beautiful.
“Bobby Floyd is a purveyor of joy. Every time he plays on the Hammond B-3 organ or piano, people start smiling.” says Stripling, his biggest fan. “That piano will take you to another place.”
Sources: Lansing City Pulse, https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/like-a-lion-roaring-msu-jazz-bobby-floyd-piano-organ,91323 By Lawrence Cosentino; Columbus Underground, https://columbusunderground.com/continuing-columbus-jazz-legacy-with-bobby-floyd/ By Chelsia Smedley, May 30, 2024; People to Watch in 1989, Columbus Monthly, Jan 1989; https://artists.hammondorganco.com/bobby-floyd; https://43302.org/blog/bobby-floyd; Jazz Man by Ray Paprocki, Columbus Monthly, March 1996; Bobby Floyd, 2015 Walk of Fame, Lincoln Theatre, www.lincolntheatrecolumbus.com; Jazz pianist Bobby Floyd wins Hanley award, July 29, 2019, The Columbus Dispatch, www.dispatch.com; Columbus landmark theater honors Marion native Floyd by John Jarvis, July 23, 2015, Marion Star, www.marionstar.com; Resurrecting the Bobby Floyd Jam by TC Brown, Oct, 2000, Columbus Monthly; Titans of Columbus Jazz: Bobby Floyd hits the right notes on organ by Peter Tonguette, Sep 1, 2025, www.columbusmonthly.com; Jazz Organist and Pianist Bobby Floyd takes up MSU residency, May 29, 2024, WILX Studio 10, www.youtube.com; Who is Bobby Floyd?, Feb 5 2025, Jazz Arts Group, Facebook; Bobby Floyd plays the blues, Feb 11, 2025, WSYX ABC 6, www.youtube.com; Marion Harding High School presents: Bobby Floyd Trio, Feb 19 2026, HHS Telecom, www.youtube.com; Bobby Floyd, www.jazzartsgroup.org; Featured picture is Bobby Floyd and his Hammond B3, courtesy of Columbus Monthly.