Nathan “Jim” Robinson – born December 25, 1892 in Deer Range Louisiana: died May 4, 1976 in New Orleans. Just a little background to get this show up and running!
Jim studied guitar as a child, but joined the army on trombone during World War I. He returned to New Orleans in 1919 and was good enough to join the Sam Morgan Band in which he was a fixture for a dozen years. He studied with Sunny Henry and worked with Lee Collins in the Gold Leaf Band.
He was active during the Depression, primarily with Avery “Kid” Howard, and was a regular with the George Lewis Band. Jim recorded with the Sam Morgan Band in the 1920s, legendary recordings that have been reissued many times. He was on the Kid Rena Decca sessions and, of course, on most of Bill Russell’s Bunk Johnson recordings. One of the biggest Jazz Band recordings came around this time, with Bunk absent, Jim Robinson and George Lewis along with Baby Dodds, Slow Drag and Lawrence Marrero created the great anthem of New Orleans jazz collective improvisation. It’s yours to hear today on American Music AMCD 4. The tune is called “San Jacinto Stomp,” it’s my desert island record, but we’ll talk about that later. Now listen to “Ice Cream” with Jim giving it his all and again no solos, just jazz. It’s on AMCD 2 and by the way listen closely to Baby Dodds on drums.
Jim toured and recorded countless times with George Lewis and Kid Howard, and made some wonderful recordings under his own name on the Riverside label. This is a small part of Jim Robinson’s very busy music-filled life. I’m not trying to do a biography here, my main goal is to get you guys to listen to “Big Jim”! Scathing critics in the fields of mainstream and modern jazz have complained about the seeming simplicity of his style, “Jim Robinson’s farm trombone,” said a reviewer in the Jazz Journal.
Having spent my life studying, playing, living and loving New Orleans Jazz, I can tell you that more trombonists have tried and given up in frustration trying to emulate Jim Robinson’s style. I’m not talking about copying Jim note for note. Nobody would want to copy George Lewis, Jim Robinson, Bunk Johnson or Kid Howard. What we are looking for is style: the purpose of the instrument in a jazz band playing in the New Orleans ensemble. The above musicians actually created a style, yes an original creation for us to listen to, enjoy and even emulate.
I can tell you that the emotion of playing and listening to a band in this style is for me “The meaning of life”. The search for the orgasmic wall of rhythmic sound that is not arranged and the spontaneous improvisation of the ensemble is nirvana.
I guess my desert island record would be American Music AMCD 2 “When You and I were Young Maggie”
But I’m warning you – this music is addictive – beware! Wait a minute, I have another must-have! In 1963, Tom Bethel recorded Kid Howard at San Jacinto Hall in New Orleans with Kid Howard, Jim Robinson, George Lewis, George Guesnon, Slow Drag, and Cie Frazier. He is on GHB 23. I have to have that one with me! Watch out, here comes another Jim Robinson star here on “Moonlight and Roses on GHB