Biography
Jimmy Robinson handles electric guitar, an instrument that did not yet exist when trombonist Jim Robinson first stepped onto New Orleans stages. Shared names and a common grounding in the city’s jazz tradition have repeatedly caused listeners to mix the two musicians up, even though each anchors a distinct pillar of local music. The earlier Robinson remained a purist devoted to the classic brass-band idiom, whereas guitarist Jimmy Robinson has embodied the city’s restless, forward-leaning spirit since the mid-1970s, when he assembled the exploratory ensemble Woodenhead. Another of his ventures, Twangorama, fields five electric guitars that move freely between rock standards and jazz material; every participant, including Robinson, had already logged time with such New Orleans icons as Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, and Allen Toussaint. Both projects have contended with ready-made prejudices—Twangorama with the expectation that five guitars can produce only noise, Woodenhead with the automatic “fusion” tag linking it to everything from Spyro Gyra’s smooth textures to Return to Forever’s high-volume grandeur. Live recordings made at venues such as the Mermaid Lounge have helped dispel those notions. Twangorama has widened its palette further by working with a horn section and a string quartet drawn from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Jazz Fest has supplied the largest crowds for either group; neither has undertaken sustained touring beyond the city. More recently Robinson joined Mulebone, whose electronically treated trombone, played by Mark Mullins, blurs into the timbres of an electric guitar—an arrangement close enough, in its own way, to a meeting between the two Robinsons.
Albums