James Robinson
A smooth vocalist whose intonation could be used to test automatic tuning devices, James Robinson is associated with some of the lighter sounds of the '80s and '90s, ranging from fusion jazz to soul music. Nonetheless, the sound of his singing is more reminiscent of the type of big-voiced but not particularly funky vocalists Duke Ellington used to feature with his bands. Retrospectively, the Robinson projects that have garnered the most lingering attention are the collaborations with pianist Lonnie Liston Smith. A veteran of the intense small free jazz groups of tenor saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Gato Barbieri, Liston Smith struck out on his own in the mid-'70s and began developing a style of music best described by one of the more popular album titles under his name, Cosmic Funk.
Robinson was not along for the ride on that record; he came along on a pair of somewhat later Liston Smith recordings from 1979 and 1980, including the perhaps inaccurate Love Is the Answer project, adding to the instrumental mix with spots of guitar and bass playing as well as vocalizing. The entire direction Liston Smith was going in quickly lost favor with the listening public as the '80s progressed -- if that word can be used in description of the somewhat conservative musical events of that decade. But the acid jazz and hip hop generations rediscovered these recordings a couple of decades later, and with them the talents of Robinson as both a vocalist and vocal arranger. He is also heard on a series of largely forgotten, uneven recordings by bandleader and composer Bob Baldwin, some of which also feature the Liston Smith keyboard disciple Anaje Allan Gumbs.
© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo
Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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David Matthews: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 5
Kreutzer Quartet, Rebecca Lea, Jess Dandy, James Robinson, Will Dawes
Chamber Music - Released by Toccata Classics on Sep 2, 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Guilty
Soul - Released by Clarence Avant Catalog on Sep 17, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Electric Project
Rock - Released by James Robinson on Jan 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Colours (Special Edition)
Latin America - Released by James Robinson on Jan 25, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mostly Contemplative Classical Guitar, Vol. 1
Pop - Released by James Robinson on Mar 14, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Beginnings
Latin America - Released by James Robinson on Jan 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Primary (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by James Robinson on Jan 16, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tumbling Into The Sky (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by James Robinson on Jan 16, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Christmas Music (Special Edition)
Christmas Music - Released by Sound Rhythms on Jan 2, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
New Beginnings
Latin America - Released by James Robinson on Jan 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I-95
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Unisoul Records Worldwide on Aug 15, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cha Cha Cha
Latin America - Released by James Robinson on Dec 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo