Robin Lumley is a British

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

musician, keyboardist, record producer, and author who was a member of the band

Brand X Brand X were a jazz fusion band formed in London in 1974. They were active until 1980, followed by a reformation between 1992 and 1999, and were active following a 2016 reunion until 2021. Members have included John Goodsall (guitar), Percy ...

with drummer

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, guitarist John Goodsall, and bassist Percy Jones. He is a second cousin of the actress

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

Career

Lumley started playing drums in a student band at college. The band reached the finals of the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' talent contest in the early 1970s, after which he switched to keyboards. He received a degree in Television Studies from

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public ...

, then moved to London and did odd jobs while trying to get into the music business. One day he received a phone call from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, a former neighbour, looking for someone to replace his ill keyboard player. Lumley accepted the job and toured as a member of Bowie's band. He met

Jack Lancaster Jack Lancaster is a British composer, record producer and musician. In the late 1960s, Lancaster co-founded the British rock group Blodwyn Pig with Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams and in the late 1970s he was a member of the British progres ...

and starting doing session work recording for others. Among the musicians he encountered was

of Genesis, with whom he founded Brand X and got interested in producing. From 1974 to 1983, he was the keyboardist for Brand X. He took leave from the band in 1978 to concentrate on his career as a record producer but returned for the band's final albums and tours. He also produced albums for

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

, and Orleans. In the 1980s, he formed a

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...

band that included Rod Argent,

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as ...

(of the Moody Blues),

Morris Pert Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...

(of Brand X), and

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

(of Procol Harum). In 1991 he married Debra Allanson, a media executive and television presenter from Perth, Australia. In 2000 he produced a set of instruction videos with

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has f ...

on keyboard technique. In 2001 he formed the band SETI with Graeme Edge, bassist Rob Burns, and Rod McGrath (cellist for the

West Australian Symphony Orchestra The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. , W ...

). Lumley wrote the book ''Tay Bridge Disaster: The People's Story'' about the collapse of the Tay Bridge in 1879 while a train was attempting to cross it. The train was headed to

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland. Lumley was born in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, and his great-grandfather had intended to board the train.

Discography

As leader

* 1975 ''Peter & The Wolf'' with Jack Lancaster * 1976 ''Marscape'' with Jack Lancaster With Brand X * 1976 ''Unorthodox Behaviour'' * 1977 ''Moroccan Roll'' * 1977 ''Livestock'' * 1978 ''Masques'' * 1979 ''Product'' * 1980 ''Do They Hurt?'' * 1982 ''Is There Anything About?'' * 1997 ''Live at the Roxy L.A. 1979'' * 1998 ''Missing Period'' * 2003 ''Macrocosm: Introducing...Brand X'' * 2015 ''Ronnie Scotts Live 1976'' * 2016 ''Rochester 1977''

As sideman

* 1976 ''Airborne''

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and ...

* 1977 ''The Dancer'',

Gary Boyle Gary Winston Boyle (born 24 November 1941) is a British jazz fusion guitarist. Biography Boyle was born in Patna, Bihar, India, on 24 November 1941. He attended the Leeds College of Music in the early 1960s and then joined the folk-rock band Ecl ...

* 1980 ''Breaking through the Ice Age'',

Ellen Shipley Ellen Shipley (born March 24, 1949 in New York City, New York, United States) is an American musician and songwriter. Career At sixteen years old, Shipley got a NYC Cabaret license. She performed a duo act in Greenwich Village in the early 70's ...

* 1983 ''Exile'',

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

References

External links

Robin Lumley at Discogs

Brand X at Discogs

Nova Vimana at Discogs

Isotope Deep End
Year of birth missing (living people) British jazz musicians British jazz keyboardists British rock keyboardists Living people RSO Records artists Brand X members {{UK-keyboardist-stub