Robert Robinson

This trombonist launched his professional career in Jan Savitt’s band and later performed in an Air Force ensemble. His time with Spike Jones and the City Slickers covered 1946 and 1947, the period marking the group’s first genuine commercial breakthrough. Afterward he concentrated on mainstream big band work, appearing with Billy May, Matty Melnick, and Harry James, and also played Dixieland in trumpeter Red Nichols’ combo. The relentless touring required by these jobs, whether under Jones or James, eventually wore on him. In the early 1960s he found steady local employment in Disneyland’s house orchestra, where he could perform both small-group Dixieland and full big band arrangements without leaving town.