Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the

Original Dixieland Jass Band The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the m ...

Career

Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teens he worked as a pianist in theaters to provide music for silent movies. With a right arm that was damaged by polio, he formed unusual techniques with his left hand. With his brother John, a drummer, he toured the southern United States in the early 1910s with an extended stay in New Orleans. He started publishing compositions in his teens; his early hits included "Sapho Rag" and "Eccentric". His compositions were published as piano rolls by Imperial, the United Music Company, and

QRS The QRS complex is the combination of three of the graphical deflections seen on a typical electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). It is usually the central and most visually obvious part of the tracing. It corresponds to the depolarization of the ri ...

. He signed a contract with QRS to record blues songs from 1918 to 1921. He worked as a manager for the publishing company owned by

W.C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

. Robinson became a member of the

in 1919, replacing on piano

Henry Ragas Henry W. Ragas (January 1, 1891 – February 18, 1919) was a jazz pianist who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the first jazz band to record commercially. Background He played piano with the Original Dixieland Jass Band o ...

, who died on February 18, 1919, in the flu epidemic. Aside from the band, in the early to middle 1920s he played piano for vocalists such as Lizzie Miles and

Lucille Hegamin Lucille Nelson Hegamin (November 29, 1894 – March 1, 1970) was an American singer and entertainer and an early African-American blues recording artist. Life and career Lucille Nelson was born in Macon, Georgia, the daughter of John and Minni ...

. In the 1930s he became the head of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

Radio's music department and was a major factor in reuniting the now scattered band. The reunion in 1936 yielded six

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

recordings as "The Original Dixieland Five," several network radio appearances (one with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conce ...

), and an appearance in a "

March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Pr ...

" movie short, with J. Russel Robinson speaking on-camera. At the end of the decade Robinson moved to California and continued to write songs.

Compositions

Robinson's songs include "That Eccentric Rag", "

Margie Margie is a feminine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Margaret, Marjorie or Margarita. Margie may refer to: People * Margie Ackles (born 1939), American retired figure skater * Marjorie Margie Alexander (1948–2013), American ...

", "A Portrait of Jennie", "Beale Street Mama", "Aggravatin' Papa", " Reefer Man", and "

Singin' the Blues ''Singin' the Blues'' is the first LP album by American bluesman B.B. King, released in 1957 by the Bihari brothers on their Crown budget label. It is a compilation album whose songs were issued between 1951 and 1956 on singles by RPM Records a ...

Awards and honors

"Singin' the Blues" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in a 1927 recording by

Frankie Trumbauer Orie Frank Trumbauer (May 30, 1901 – June 11, 1956) was an American jazz saxophonist of the 1920s and 1930s. His main instrument was the C-melody saxophone, a now-uncommon instrument between an alto and tenor saxophone in size and pitch. He a ...

and His Orchestra featuring

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

on cornet.

References

External links

Biography
*
J. Russel Robinson recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, J. Russell 1892 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American jazz pianists American jazz songwriters American male pianists American male songwriters Dixieland jazz musicians American male jazz musicians Musicians from Indiana Original Dixieland Jass Band members Ragtime composers

Career

Compositions

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links