Justin Robinson (musician)
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Justin Robinson (born August 14, 1968) is an American
alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller tha ...
. He has performed with artists such as the Harper Brothers,
Cecil Brooks III Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Hannibal Lokumbe, and Jimmy Ponder. A native of the Homewood n ...
,
Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering dee ...
,
Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
,
Little Jimmy Scott James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After ...
, the
Carnegie Hall Jazz Band {{Use mdy dates, date=April 2025 The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band was a big band organized in 1991 by George Wein. Its musical director was Jon Faddis. The group gave its first performance in October 1992, and gave concerts paying tribute to classic ja ...
, the
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
All Star Band and was a member of the quintet and big band of trumpeter
Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...
.


Life and career

Robinson was born in Manhattan, and first began playing saxophone at the age of 13, while attending the High School of Music and Arts (LaGuardia High School) in New York. His first influences were Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean. He first stepped on the stage of the
Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...
in the show ''First Generations of Jazz''. From 1984 to 1986 he belonged to the ''McDonald's High School Jazz Band'' where he met Philip Harper and at the age of 18 joined the Harper Brothers with
Winard Harper Hiram Winard Harper (born June 4, 1962) is an American jazz drummer. Career Harper played in the 1980s with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, and with Betty Carter for four years. While working with Carter he met Wycliffe Gordon, with whom Harper w ...
. In 1988 he joined
Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inter ...
’s band. Starting in the early 1990s, he played with
Cecil Brooks III Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Hannibal Lokumbe, and Jimmy Ponder. A native of the Homewood n ...
,
Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering dee ...
,
Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
,
Little Jimmy Scott James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After ...
, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
All Star Band,
Kate Higgins Catherine Davis Higgins is an American voice actress, singer and jazz pianist. She is best known for her voice-acting roles of Sakura Haruno in ''Naruto'', Miles "Tails" Prower in the video game series ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', Frankie Stein i ...
,
Sam Newsome Sam Newsome (born April 28, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator. His music combines straight-ahead jazz, world music (drawing influences from North Africa and East Asia) and experimental jazz, which uses extended techniqu ...
and especially
Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...
, both in his big band and quintet. His debut recording project '' Justin Time'' (Verve, 1991), was produced by
Bobby Watson Robert Watson, Bob Watson, or Bobby Watson may refer to: Politics * Robert Spence Watson (1837–1911), English solicitor, reformer, politician and writer * Robert James Watson (1846–1931), Canadian parliamentarian * Robert Watson (Canadian po ...
and featured Eddie Henderson,
Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...
and
Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...
among others. On 1998’s '' Challenge'' he was accompanied by his childhood friend Stephen Scott. Robinson lives in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
.


Discography

* 1991: ''Justin Time'' (Verve) * 1998: ''The Challenge'' (Arabesque) * 2012: ''In the Spur of the Moment'' ( WJ3) * 2014: ''Alana's Fantasy'' (Criss Cross Jazz) * 2019: ''At First Light'' (WJ3) With
Cecil Brooks III Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Hannibal Lokumbe, and Jimmy Ponder. A native of the Homewood n ...
*''
Hangin' with Smooth ''Hangin' with Smooth'' is an album by drummer Cecil Brooks III, recorded in 1990 and released on the Muse label. Reception ''The Star-Ledger'' praised the "mix of hard-bopped standards, smooth ballads and smart, catchy originals." The ''Boston H ...
'' (Muse, 1990) With
Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...
* 2006: ''Nothing Serious'' (Verve) * 2008: ''
Earfood ''Earfood'' is a jazz album by the Roy Hargrove Quintet, issued by the EmArcy record label in 2008. The album was a return to Hargrove's enduring interest in hard bop, following several albums in which he explored jazz within a hip-hop and R&B ...
'' (EmArcy) * 2009: ''Emergence'' – The Roy Hargrove Big Band (Groovin' High) With
Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering dee ...
* 1997: ''
Who Used to Dance ''Who Used to Dance'' is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. It was recorded during April and May, 1996, at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City, and was released in 1997 by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Linc ...
'' (Verve)


References


Justin Robinson
all-about-jazz ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Justin American male saxophonists Living people 1968 births 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians WJ3 Records artists Verve Records artists Criss Cross Jazz artists Arabesque Records artists