Robert Mosci

Robert Moskowitz (died December 25, 2025; known professionally as Robert Mosci) was an American jazz musician and pianist, singer, and songwriter. He was particularly known for his long-standing role as a featured performer at prominent New York City piano bars, including at the Beekman Tower Hotel "Top of the Tower" bar and the Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle in Manhattan. He grew up in a musical family and studied jazz and popular music at Berklee College of Music, developing a wide instrumental range before returning to New York to perform regularly. Over his career spanning more than three decades, Mosci released several albums and EPs. He maintained a strong presence in New York's jazz and piano bar scene throughout his career.

Early life and education Mosci grew up in Queens in a musical family, where his father was a clarinetist with the New York City Ballet Orchestra. He spent a year attending Cornell University with a focus on classical music, before he transferred to the Berklee College of Music, where he studied music theory and composition. While there, he played mostly rock, pop, and folk. He would eventually go on to spend 14 to 15 years at the "Top of the Tower" bar at the Beekman, along with eight years at The Water Club. A 1993 Boston Globe review from his time at the Top of the Tower bar said that he had a "rich, smooth voice," while a 1995 Boston Globe piece noted, "[Mosci's] smooth baritone and skillful tickling of the ivories are perfect for sophisticated classics." He also regularly led a band on New Year's Eve at the Algonquin Hotel during these years. Mosci would go on to become a featured house player at Bemelmans Bar, which he would later describe as his "favorite place to play" in the city.

Mosci, a former sound engineer, released seven albums throughout his career. In 1995, he released the album "First Portrait," which had four original tracks and several covers. These changes included a New Orleans jazz-style version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" and adding doo-wop and other R&B elements to "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." He also released an EP called "HD World" in 2013, which featured a track by his daughter Nora. Mosci noted that celebrities like Tom Hanks and others have come to the club, and that the bar grew in popularity with a younger crowd after Prince Harry stayed at The Carlyle after the COVID-19 pandemic. Mosci died on December 25, 2025, at Staten Island University Hospital, following a glioblastoma diagnosis earlier in the year.