Gino Robair is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

improvisor Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist, and magazine editor. In his own music work (as a soloist and in improvisation ensembles), he plays prepared/modified percussion, analog synthesizer,

ebow The EBow is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It was invented by the American guitarist Greg Heet in 1969 and introduced in 1976. The EBow uses a pickup and a magnetic feedback circuit to ...

and

prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for pr ...

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

, and bowed objects (polystyrene, customized/broken cymbals, faux daxophone, metal). Robair resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

Biography

Gino Robair has recorded with

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

, John Butcher, LaDonna Smith,

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a ...

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

Club Foot Orchestra The Club Foot Orchestra is a musical ensemble known for their silent film scores. Their influences include Eastern European folk music, impressionism, and jazz fusion; ''The New Yorker'' described their style as "music that bubbles up from the in ...

ROVA Saxophone Quartet Rova Saxophone Quartet is an American, San Francisco–based saxophone quartet, formed in October 1977. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: , Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. When Voig ...

, Birgit Ulher,

Beth Custer Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) *Beth number, a sequence of infi ...

, and

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

, and many others. In addition, he has performed with

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is ...

, and

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (often shorted to 'Thinking Fellers' or 'TFUL282') were an American indie rock band, which was formed in 1986 in San Francisco, California though half of its members are from Iowa. Their albums combine lo-fi noi ...

. He is a founding member of the groups Splatter Trio, and Pink Mountain. From January 4, 1994 to January 14, 1997, "The Dark Circle Lounge" was a weekly improvisational music series, that later became a festival, founded and led by Gino Robair at the Hotel Utah. The Bay Area Improv Scene participated in The Dark Circle Lounge. At the time, Robair was a member of the Splatter Trio, alongside saxophonist Dave Barrett, and guitarist-bassist Myles Boisen. It is not always clear what instruments Robair is playing (for example, the duo CD "Sputter" with Birgit Ulher). In interviews (Paris Transatlantic,

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

), he notes that the term "energized surfaces" refers to the use of drums as resonators for other objects, which he bows, scrapes, rubs, or activates with an ebow, motors, or compressed air through a horn. "Voltage made audible" is used to describe analog electronics and circuit bent instruments. As a composer, Robair has written pieces for a variety of ensembles (including the

), scored numerous Shakespearean plays with the California Shakespeare Festival (where he was music director for five years), and created jingles for radio and television. He also served as music director and composer (within the Club Foot Orchestra) for the CBS/Film Roman Saturday morning cartoon series "

The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat ''The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat'' is an American animated television series produced by Film Roman. The series first aired on September 16, 1995 on CBS Saturday mornings lasting for two seasons with the final episode airing on April 12, 19 ...

". His large-scale work, "I, Norton," is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

based on the life of

Emperor Norton Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 declared himself "Emperor of these United States" in a proclamation that he signed "Norton I., Emperor of the United States" ...

, which combines improvisation, graphic scores, game pieces, and fully notated scores. The piece was featured in the documentary ''Noisy People,'' by

Tim Perkis Tim Perkis is an experimental musician and writer who works with live electronic and computer sound. Discography "Boundary Layer" 2008 The Hub with John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Tim Perkis, Scot Gresham-Lancaster, Phil Stone. Tzadik Records (N ...

. Robair is currently involved in a multi-year research project developing real-time, computer-mediated, ensemble-improvisation systems with Palle Dahlstedt (Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden), Per Anders Nilsson (Academy of Music and Drama, Gothenburg, Sweden), and Tim Perkis. This project grew out of The Bucket System developed by Dahstedt, Nilsson and Robair and presented at the 2015 NIME conference. Robair is also a member of Anne Pajunen’s Stockholm-based S.M.O.K (Svenska Moderna Operaensemblen) 2.0, producing theatrical works with live electronics. Gino Robair is the former editor-in-chief of ''Electronic Musician'' magazine, and ''Keyboard'' magazine. He has written for ''Mix'', ''Option'', ''Remix'', ''Guitar Player'', and ''Acoustic Guitar'' magazines, authored two books—''Making the Ultimate Demo'' (Artistpro, 2000) and The ''Ultimate Personal Recording Studio'' (Cengage, 2006)—and contributed chapters to ''Less Noise, More Soul'' (Hal Leonard, 2013) and ''The Hub: Pioneers of Network Music'' (Kehrer Verlag, 2021). Robair is a member of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy/Grammys and served a term as national trustee. He has presented papers and chaired roundtable discussions at then NAMM, AES, and

New Interfaces for Musical Expression New Interfaces for Musical Expression, also known as NIME, is an international conference dedicated to scientific research on the development of new technologies and their role in musical expression and artistic performance. History The confer ...

(NIME)Musical Expression https://www.nime.org/proceedings/2015/nime2015_171.pdf conferences. His academic work includes composition studies with

Barney Childs Barney Sanford Childs (February 13, 1926 – January 11, 2000) was an American composer and teacher. Born in Spokane, Washington, he taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom. ...

at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

and

David Rosenboom David Rosenboom (born 1947 in Fairfield, Iowa) is a composer, performer, interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator known for his work in American experimental music. Rosenboom has explored various forms of music, languages for improvisation, ...

, and

Larry Polansky Larry Polansky (October 16, 1954 – May 9, 2024) was an American composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and academic. Biography The brother of the writer Steven Polansky, Polansky read mathematics and music at the University of California, Santa C ...

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

. He studied percussion with Ron George,

William Kraft William Kraft (September 6, 1923 – February 12, 2022) was an American composer, conductor, teacher, timpanist, and percussionist. Biography Early life and education (1923–1954) Kraft was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was awarded two Anton Seid ...

William Winant William Winant (born 1953) is an American percussionist. In addition to his work in contemporary classical music—notably performing Lou Harrison's compositions—Winant has worked in a variety of genres, including noise rock, free improvisation ...

, and

Eddie Prévost Edwin John Prévost (born 22 June 1942) is an English percussionist who founded the free improvisation group, AMM. Early years Of Huguenot heritage, Prévost's silk weaving ancestors moved to Spitalfields in the late 17th century. He was born ...

of AMM. He also studied Javanese Gamelan with

Jody Diamond Jody Diamond (born Pasadena, California, April 23, 1953) is an American composer, performer, writer, publisher, editor, and educator. She specializes in traditional and new music for Indonesian gamelan and is active internationally as a scholar, ...

, and wrote several works for the instruments. Robair is currently pursuing a PhD in Performance Studies at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

Discography

* "Blue Moon" Sabrina Siegel, Gino Robair, Tania Chen, Tom Djll, Bryan Day, 2019 *"NoNoNo Percussion Ensemble: Excantatious" with Stefano Giust and Cristiano Calcagnile, Setola di Maiale (Italy) SM4340, 2021. CD. *"Trio Music Minus One (For Dennis Palmer)" with Thollem McDonas, Setola di Maiale (Italy) SM2650, 2014. CD. *"I, Norton: an opera in real time." Rastascan Records, 2009. CD. *"Postage Paid Duets - Vol. 2" David Sait w/Glen Hall w/Gino Robair w/LaDonna Smith. Apprise AP-03, 2009. CD. *"Other Destinations" (solo). Rastascan Records (San Francisco). CD. *"Singular Pleasures" (solo). Rastascan Records (San Francisco). CD. *"Sputter" with Birgit Ulher (tpt). Creative Sources (Lisbon, Portugal). CD. *"New Oakland Burr" with John Butcher. Rastascan Records (San Francisco). CD. *"Blood Money," "Alice," "Orphans," "The Tiger and the Snow" and "Bad As Me" with Tom Waits. *"Duets 1987," "Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003," and "Six Compositions (GTM) 2001" with Anthony Braxton. *"Grosse Abfahrt: Luftschiffe zum Kalifornien" 2007 Serge Baghdassarians - electronics; Boris Baltschun - electronics; Chris Brown - piano; Tom Djll - trumpet; Matt Ingalls - clarinet; Tim Perkis - electronics; Gino Robair - electronics; John Shiurba - guitar. Creative Sources (Lisbon, Portugal). CD. *"Supermodel Supermodel" 2006 Gail Brand trombone; Tim Perkis electronics; Gino Robair percussion, faux dax, horns, Styrofoam, ebow snare; John Shiurba electric guitar; Matthew Sperry double bass and preparations. On Emanem (UK). CD. *"Six Fuchs" 2004 Wolfgang Fuchs (reeds), Tom Dill(tpt), Gino Robair(perc), John Shiurba(gtr), Matthew Sperry(bass), and Tim Perkis (electronics). Rastascan Records (San Francisco). CD *"Gino Robair Live on the Artship" 2002 The Artship Recordings are a series of live solo improvisations each by a different artist, and each performed in "The Artship", a decommissioned US Navy troop transport which was docked in Oakland and served as a floating arts center for several years. (3.5-in CD). *"Buddy Systems" 1998 Gino Robair plays selected duos and trios, with John Butcher and Tim Perkis, Otomo Yoshihide, Carl Kihlstedt and Matthew Sperry, Dan Plonsey, LaDonna Smith, Splatter Trio,

Oluyemi Thomas Oluyemi Thomas (born August 16, 1952) is a free jazz bass clarinetist and saxophonist. Thomas was born in Detroit, Michigan. He began playing clarinet as a child, and was exposed to the music of Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie, ...

, and Myles Boisen On Meniscus(Minneapolis). CD *"Matthew Sperry Trio" 1997 Actually a quartet, that didn't include the late Matthew Sperry! Matt Ingalls, Tim Perkis, Gino Robair, John Shiurba. On Limited Sedition (Oakland). CD

References

External links

Rastascan Records Label

Interviews

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robair, Gino Free improvisation American jazz drummers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Music & Arts artists American male drummers

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links

Interviews