Henry Bertholf "Spike" Robinson (January 16, 1930 – October 29, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, recording on several labels, including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and followed that profession for nearly 30 years. In 1981 he returned to recording music.

Early life

Robinson was born in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

on January 16, 1930. Beginning on alto saxophone in his early years, Robinson soon discovered that it was hard to make a living playing the kind of music he wanted to play.

Later life and career

In 1948, Robinson joined the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

as a musician and by 1950 was based in the UK. He was soon regularly jamming at London's

Club Eleven Club Eleven was a nightclub in London between 1948 and 1950 which played a significant role in the emergence of the bebop jazz movement in Britain. The club was so named because it had 11 founders – business manager Harry Morris and ten Britis ...

, Downbeat Club and Studio 51 with leading UK beboppers, including Tommy Pollard,

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

and

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

. He made a few records for Carlo Krahmer's

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

label but eventually was transferred home and demobilized. Unhappy with the music scene in the Chicago area, he took advantage of the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

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 Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

. In 1981, Robinson recorded for the first time since his London sessions, which also featured pianist Victor Feldman and bassist Ray Brown. His album was ''Spike Robinson Plays Harry Warren''. 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 full-time career in music, appearing with established British jazz musicians such as fellow tenor

Dick Morrissey Richard Edwin Morrissey (9 May 1940 – 8 November 2000) was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. Biography Background He was born in Horley, Surrey, England. Dick Morrissey emerg ...

, pianist

Bill Le Sage William A. Le Sage (20 January 1927 – 31 October 2001) was a British pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, composer and bandleader. Early life Le Sage was born in London on 20 January 1927. His father, William (1899-1951) was a drummer and his tw ...

, bassist

Alec Dankworth Alexander William Tamba Dankworth (born 14 May 1960) is an English jazz bassist and composer. Biography Born in London, the son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Alec Dankworth grew up in the villages of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, living at t ...

and drummer

Bill Eyden William James "Bill" Eyden (4 May 1930, Hounslow, Middlesex – 15 October 2004, Isleworth, Middlesex) was an English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peop ...

, among others. Throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, he played at clubs and festivals throughout the UK, Europe and in various parts of the US, making his New York debut at Christmas 1990. A succession of albums, most as leader but some with artists such as Louis Stewart,

Harry Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard back ...

Al Cohn Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist Zo ...

, Roy Williams and Claude Tissendier, attracted high critical and public praise. Despite his bebop beginnings, the mature musician who emerged in the 1980s from self-imposed exile was a consummate ballad player who explored the endless archives of the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is ...

. His rhapsodic, breathy style is instantly identifiable and the effortless loping swing of everything he played. In the early 1990s, Robinson was touring extensively from a UK base, recording many albums and headlining at clubs and festivals in Europe and the USA. He moved to England in 1989. He died in

Writtle The village and civil parish of Writtle lies 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 ravishi ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on October 29, 2001.

Playing style

"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 Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

, players such as

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

and

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, but he had developed his own highly engaging voice within that style."

Other work

Robinson provided the voice of Brother Marcus in ''Grand Theft Auto'' (1997).

Discography

* ''At Chesters Volume 1'' ( Hep, 1984) * ''At Chesters Volume 2'' (Hep, 1984) * ''The Gershwin Collection'' (Hep, 1987) * ''

Live at the Bull – Tribute Vols. 1–2 ''Live 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. It was re ...

'' (Bull's Head Music, 1987–88) * ''Three for the Road'' (Hep, 1989) * ''Stairway to the Stars'' (Hep, 1990) * ''Spike Robinson and George Masso Play Arlen'' (Hep, 1991) * ''Plays Harry Warren'' (Hep, 1981–93) * ''The CTS Session (Hep, 1998) * ''Young Lions Old Tigers'' (Hep, 2000) * ''I Wish I Knew'' - Live in Dublin 1979. The Ralph O'Callaghan Collection. 2007 Nagel Heyer Records. Main source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Spike 1930 births 2001 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Hep Records artists Discovery Records artists Concord Records artists