Spike Robinson
Encyclopedia
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
– October 29, 2001 in Writtle
Writtle
The village of Writtle lies a mile west of Chelmsford, Essex, England, it has a traditional village green, complete with duck pond and a Norman church; and was once described as: 'one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravishing variety of ancient cottages'...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) was a tenor saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
. He began playing at age twelve, making recordings with famous jazz and bop musicians on several labels including Discovery, Hep
Hep Records
Hep Records is a Scottish record label specializing in both new and reissued jazz music. The label was founded in 1974 by Alastair Robertson in Edinburgh.-Past and present artists:*Don Lanphere*Jessica Williams*Jim Mullen*Tommy Smith*Michael Hashim...
and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and followed that profession on a fulltime basis for nearly 30 years. In 1981 he returned to recording music.
Beginning on alto saxophone in his early teenage years, Robinson soon discovered that it was hard to make a living playing the kind of music he wanted to play. In 1948 he joined the US Navy as a musician and by 1950 was based in the UK.
He was soon regularly jamming at London's Club Eleven, Downbeat Club and Studio 51 with leading UK beboppers, including Tommy Pollard, Johnny Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
and Victor Feldman
Victor Feldman
Victor Stanley Feldman was a British jazz musician, best known as a pianist.-Early history:...
. He made a few records for Carlo Krahmer
Carlo Krahmer
Carlo Krahmer was a British jazz drummer and record producer....
's Esquire
Esquire Records
Esquire Records is the name of two defunct record labels:*Esquire Records , jazz record label founded by Carlo Krahmer and Peter Newbrook in 1947. It issued recordings by British musicians, and others, under licence, from the American Prestige label, the Chicago blues label Delmark, and the Swedish...
label but eventually was transferred home and demobilized. Unhappy with the music scene in the Chicago area, he took advantage of the GI Bill to study electronic engineering at university.
For most of the next 30 years he lived and worked in Colorado, eventually taking up music again, this time playing tenor saxophone and working nights at local clubs. A constant musical companion of these times was Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin
David Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
. In 1981 Robinson recorded for the first time since his London sessions, which also featured pianist Vic Feldman and bassist Ray Brown. Encouraged to visit the UK by a British fan, in 1984 Robinson began a series of tours which were so successful that he took early retirement from his engineering job to turn to a fulltime career in music, appearing with established British jazz musicians such as fellow tenor Dick Morrissey
Dick Morrissey
Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
, pianist Bill Le Sage
Bill Le Sage
Bill Le Sage, born William A. Le Sage, born London - died , London, was a British pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, composer and bandleader. His credits include the score for the 1960 film The Tell-Tale Heart....
, bassist Alec Dankworth
Alec Dankworth
Alec Dankworth is an English jazz bassist and composer.Dankworth was born in London, the son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. He grew up in the villages of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, living at the Old Rectory, Wavendon, where his parents established the Wavendon All-Music Plan which includes the...
and drummer Bill Eyden
Bill Eyden
Bill Eyden was a renowned English jazz drummer....
, among others.
Throughout the rest of the '80s and into the early '90s, he played at clubs and festivals throughout the UK, Europe and in various parts of the USA, making his New York debut at Christmas 1990. A succession of superb record albums, most as leader but some with artists such as Louis Stewart, Harry Edison, Al Cohn
Al Cohn
Al Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
, Roy Williams and Claude Tissendier, attracted high critical and public praise.
Despite his bebop beginnings, the mature musician who emerged in the '80s from self-imposed exile is a consummate ballad player who eagerly explores the endless archives of the Great American Song Book. His rhapsodic, breathy style is instantly identifiable and the effortless loping swing of everything he plays helped to make Robinson into one of the outstanding tenor saxophonists of his generation. In the early '90s Robinson was touring extensively from a UK base, recording many albums and headlining at clubs and festivals in Europe and the USA.
OBITUARY:
(Quote from the Daily Telegraph obituary of Friday, 2 November 2001)
Henry Berthold "Spike" Robinson, saxophone player and engineer has died, aged 71.
Robinson's playing was characterised by a mellow tone, unaggressive approach and a deep affinity with the classic American song. Broadly speaking, he was one of that school of tenor saxophonists who followed in the wake of Lester Young, players such as Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, but he had developed his own highly engaging voice within that style.
Discography
- Spike Robinson - Eddie Thompson Trio / At Chesters Volumes 1 & 2 (1984; Hep Records)
- Live at the Bull - Tribute Vols. 1-2Live at the Bull - Tribute Vols. 1-2Live at the Bull - Tribute Vols. 1-2 is a 2-CD tribute album released in 2007 featuring tenor saxophonists Dick Morrissey and Spike Robinson accompanied by Bill Le Sage, Bill Eyden, Alec Dankworth, John Pearce and Simon Morton...
(2007) Dick MorrisseyDick MorrisseyRichard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
, Spike Robinson, Bill Le SageBill Le SageBill Le Sage, born William A. Le Sage, born London - died , London, was a British pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, composer and bandleader. His credits include the score for the 1960 film The Tell-Tale Heart....
, Bill EydenBill EydenBill Eyden was a renowned English jazz drummer....
and Alec DankworthAlec DankworthAlec Dankworth is an English jazz bassist and composer.Dankworth was born in London, the son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. He grew up in the villages of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, living at the Old Rectory, Wavendon, where his parents established the Wavendon All-Music Plan which includes the...
, and others. (Recorded live at The Bull's HeadThe Bull's HeadThe Bull's Head, Barnes, often referred to as "The Bull", is a London jazz club that was one of the first and most important jazz venues in Britain...
, Barnes, London in 1987 and 1988.)