Scott Robinson (born April 27, 1959) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. Robinson is best known for his work on multiple saxophones, but he has also performed on clarinet, alto clarinet, flute, trumpet, sarrusophone, and other, more obscure instruments.
Scott Robinson | |
|---|---|
 Robinson at the 2013 Aarhus Jazz Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 27, 1959 Pompton Plains, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, multi-instrumentalist |
| Instrument(s) | Clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, sarrusophone, ophicleide, theremin |
| Labels | Arbors, ScienSonic |
| Website | ScienSonic Laboratories |
.jpg)
Music career edit
The son of a piano teacher and National Geographic book editor,[1] Robinson graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1981. The next year, he joined the college's staff, becoming its youngest faculty member.[2]
Robinson has appeared on more than 275 LP and CD releases, including 20 under his leadership,[3] with musicians Frank Wess,[2] Roscoe Mitchell, Ruby Braff, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter, Paquito D'Rivera, David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Rufus Reid,[3] Buck Clayton, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's.[1] Four of these recordings won a Grammy Award.[3] He has received four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.[1]
In 2000, the U.S. State Department named him a jazz ambassador for the year 2001,[1] funding a tour of West Africa in which he played the early works of Louis Armstrong.[2] Material from these appearances was released on the album Jazz Ambassador: Scott Robinson Plays the Compositions of Louis Armstrong by Arbors Records.
Throughout his career, Robinson has worked to keep unusual and obscure instruments in the public view. For example, he has recorded an album featuring the C-melody saxophone and performs with the ophicleide. He also owns and records with a vintage contrabass saxophone so rare that fewer than twenty in playable condition are known to exist.[3]
Since 2009, he has operated his record label, ScienSonic Laboratories.
He is not to be confused with the percussionist N. Scott Robinson.
Select discography edit
As leader/co-leader edit
- Multiple Instruments (Multijazz, 1984)
- Winds of Change (Multijazz, 1990)
- Magic Eye (Bliss, 1993)
- Thinking Big (Arbors, 1997)
- Melody from the Sky (Arbors, 2000)
- Summertime (Cube Bohemia, 2004)
- Jazz Ambassador (Arbors, 2004)
- Forever Lasting (Arbors, 2008)
- Live at Space Farms (ScienSonic, 2010)
- Nucleus (ScienSonic, 2010)
- Bronze Nemesis (Doc-tone/ScienSonic, 2012)
- Mission In Space (ScienSonic, 2014)
- ? (ScienSonic, 2015)
- Heliosonic Toneways (ScienSonic, 2017)
- Tenormore (Arbors, 2019)
- Flow States (ScienSonic, 2020)
As sideman or guest edit
With Ruby Braff
- 1997 Ruby Braff Remembers Louis Armstrong: Being With You
- 2002 Variety Is the Spice of Braff
- 2010 Our Love Is Here to Stay
With John Fedchock
- 1992 New York Big Band
- 1998 On the Edge
- 2002 No Nonsense
With Marty Grosz
- 1994 Keep a Song in Your Soul
- 1996 The Rhythm for Sale
- 2005 Chasin' the Spots
- 2006 Marty Grosz and His Hot Combination
- 2009 Hot Winds: The Classic Sessions
- 2012 The James P. Johnson Songbook
With Keith Ingham
- 1994 The Keith Ingham New York 9, Vol. 1
- 1994 The Keith Ingham New York 9, Vol. 2
- 1998 A Mellow Bit of Rhythm
- 1999 A Star Dust Melody
- 2001 Keith Ingham New York 9, Vol. 3
With Frank Kimbrough
- 2018 Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk (Sunnyside)
With Frank Mantooth
- 1989 Suite Tooth
- 1993 Dangerous Precedent
- 1999 Miracle
With Bob Mintzer
- 1990 The Art of the Big Band
- 2000 Homage to Count Basie
- 2006 Old School New Lessons
With John Pizzarelli
- 1991 All of Me
- 1993 Naturally
- 1994 New Standards
- 1997 Our Love Is Here to Stay
With the Joe Roccisano Orchestra
- Leave Your Mind Behind (Landmark, 1995)
With Randy Sandke
- 1990 Stampede
- 1993 The Bix Beiderbecke Era
- 1994 Chase
- 1995 Calling All Cats
- 2000 Re-Discovered Louis & Bix
- 2002 Randy Sandke Meets Bix Beiderbecke
- 2002 Inside Out
- 2005 Outside In
With Maria Schneider
- 1992 Evanescence
- 1995 Coming About
- 2000 Allegresse
- 2000 Days of Wine and Roses - Live at the Jazz Standard
- 2004 Concert in the Garden
- 2013 Winter Morning Walks
- 2015 The Thompson Fields
- 2020 Data Lords
With John Sheridan
- 2005 Easy as It Gets
- 2007 Swing Is Still the King
- 2010 Hooray for Christmas!
With others
- 1985 Live at Chan's, Rebecca Parris
- 1993 Saxophone Mosaic, Gary Smulyan
- 1993 Tryin' to Make My Blues Turn Green, Frank Wess
- 1993 What Matters Most, Tom Postilio
- 1994 Black Brown & Beige, Louie Bellson
- 1994 Caecilie Norby, Cæcilie Norby
- 1994 I Saw Stars, Rebecca Kilgore
- 1996 Bufadora Blow-Up, Bob Wilber
- 1996 Look What I Found, Daryl Sherman
- 1996 Strings Attached, Peter Ecklund
- 1997 Live at MCG, Paquito D'Rivera
- 1997 Song for My Mother, Walt Weiskopf
- 1999 Last Swing of the Century, Ken Peplowski
- 1999 Joyful Noise: A Tribute to Duke Ellington, Don Sebesky
- 1999 New Works Celebration, Bob Brookmeyer
- 1999 Out of This World, Loren Schoenberg
- 2000 Being a Bear: Jazz for the Whole Family, Dan Barrett
- 2000 Noumena, Frank Kimbrough
- 2000 Sultry Serenade, James Chirillo
- 2001 Ballad Essentials, Carol Sloane
- 2001 Black Dahlia, Bob Belden
- 2001 Dear Louis, Nicholas Payton
- 2001 Group Therapy, Jim McNeely
- 2001 L' Instant d'Apres, David Linx
- 2001 Play It Cool, Lea DeLaria
- 2001 Sweet & Lowdown, Dave Van Ronk
- 2003 On This Day at the Vanguard, Joe Lovano
- 2006 Tiger by the Tail, George Gruntz
- 2011 Ron Carter's Great Big Band, Ron Carter
- 2013 Joyride, Cynthia Sayer
- 2014 Nothing Has Changed, David Bowie
- 2014 Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project, Rufus Reid[4]
- 2018 Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk (Sunnyside, 2018), Frank Kimbrough
References edit
- ^ a b c d Torreano, Bradley. "Scott Robinson". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ a b c Levine, Bill. "Our Critics Picks Archived 2005-12-29 at the Wayback Machine", the Nashville Scene, published October 6, 2005. Retrieved February 26, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Small, Mark. "Scott Robinson '81: Unusual Voices, Berklee Today. Retrieved February 26, 2007.
- ^ "Scott Robinson | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016.