Kostabi World (NYC)

Robert’s sophomore album, Footprints of Steel, was released in April 2025 and features 14-tracks in collaboration with Adam Holzman (Miles Davis, Steven Wilson), Carli Muñoz (Beach Boys), Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul), Jay Rodriguez-Sierra (Groove Collective, Wu-Tang Clan) and Take-a-Pick: Brian DuFord / Milica Paranosic.

In 2021, he released his debut album, The Music Between Us.

He is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) with 30+ songwriter credits

Reviews for Footprints of Steel

What exactly is “new music” these days and how much further can it strive beyond the high Downtown years? One answer may lie within the album’s fourth selection, “Not All Apples Are Blue Color”, which embraces the wonderfully bizarre. No, this cut is not of the Dada school, it isn’t No Wave, nor post-punk, but of a late-1960s fashion recalling Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable and an acoustic Velvet Underground, wherein the poet’s recitation and droning vocal are interspersed with Milica Paranosic’s mellifluous singing and piercing spoken word, anchored by Brian DuFord’s classical guitar. Here, women’s liberation tangos with the truly absurd, in a manner demanding repeated listenings.”
- John Pietaro (columnist NYC Jazz Record, co-host of WFMU’s Beneath the Underground)
Full Review

Discography

Elegy - Sound Liberation
Album (May 2025)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

Robert’s dark humor poem about a woman’s revenge on a cheating boyfriend, ‘The Cauldron’, was set to music by Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul) and combines elements of jazz, opera and spoken word into a contemporary classical music composition. It features the powerhouse soprano vocals of Adriana Valdés and a searing trumpet solo by Frank Hackl (Lew Soloff), accompanied by Gene Pritsker (guitar), Amanda Ruzza (bass--Jill Sobule) and David Cossin (drums--Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), with Robert narrating midway through the song.

Footprints of Steel - Robert C. Ford
Album (April 2025)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

An eclectic 14-track album featuring Robert’s words set to music by Adam Holzman (Miles Davis, Steven Wilson), Carli Muñoz (Beach Boys), Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul), Jay Rodriguez Sierra (Groove Collective, Wu-Tang Clan) and Take-A-Pick: Brian DuFord / Milica Paranosic.

CompCord @ 40 - Composers Concordance
Album (2024)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

A compilation album celebrating Composers Concordance’s 40th anniversary. It includes ‘The Music Between Us’, based on a poem of Robert’s set to music by Charles Coleman and features Coleman’s baritone voice accompanied by Geoffrey Burleson on piano. Cover art by Graham Elliott (Living Color).

Ascending Volumes - Ford & Rodriguez-Sierra
SIngle (2024)
Amuse

‘Ascending Volumes’ features haikus by Robert reflecting on the 4 seasons of life, set to meditative Japanese flute (shakuhachi) music by Jay Rodriguez-Sierra.

Puzzle Complete - Sound Liberation
Single (2024)
Amuse

Puzzle Complete is a hard-hitting rock song about the physics of love with words by Robert set to music by Gene Pritsker and performed by Sound Liberation.

Better Now - Sound Libration
Album (2023)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

Robert wrote the words for the song ‘The Difference Unhappiness’ set to jazz music by Gene Pritsker. It features the powerhouse soprano vocals of Adriana Valdés and a searing trumpet solo by Franz Hackl (Lew Soloff), accompanied by Gene Pritsker (guitar) and Gerry Brown (drums--Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie).

The Music Between Us - Robert C. Ford
Album (2021)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

Robert’s 10-song debut album with his words reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, cancel culture and other then-current events, set to music by Charles Coleman (Paavo Järvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi, London Symphony Orchestra), Mark Kostabi (Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion, Ramones Adios Amigos, Ornette Coleman) and Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul). Robert narrates 3 tracks and Charles Coleman and Berzan Önen provide vocals on the others.

Protest - Gene Pritsker
Album (2021)
Composers Concordance Records/Naxos Distribution

Inspired by the murder of George Floyd, Robert penned the poem ‘Mama I Can’t Breathe’ which was set to classical guitar music by Gene Pritsker.