Jim Robinson - Economy Hall Breakdown

Delmark 235

As Jimmy Lyons was to Cecil Taylor and John Gilmore to Sun Ra, so too was Jim Robinson to clarinetist George Lewis. Robinson spent the latter half of his career as Lewis’ right hand man, only rarely leaving the fold to field his own recording sessions. Like Lewis, his was not a virtuoso stylist. His approach to the trombone was workman-like, steeped in the tailgate slurs and slides pioneered by Kid Ory and similarly less than extraordinary when it came to the soloist’s art. On the rare occasions when he did find the resources and wherewithal to record on his own, Robinson favored a nostalgic spin on material. His pair of albums for Riverside, cut under the auspices of Chris Albertson’s exceptional New Orleans Living Legends series, dispense with piano and feature the banjo of “Creole George” Guesnon. One focuses on the repertory of the Sam Morgan Jazz Band, Robinson’s first employer, the other on a cherry-picked cache of hoary blues and spirituals. Both are well worth acquiring not only for Robinson’s contributions, but also for the lovely chalumeau clarinet of Crescent City legend Louis Cottrell.

This new Delmark release excavates a date taped four years and eight months after the pivotal Riversides at Preservation Hall, the Taj Mahal of traditional New Orleans jazz. Robinson is once again in a recollective mood, running down a mix of public domain and antiquated tunes primarily of the shuffle and blues varieties. The band on hand to help him proves itself adept at scraping off the moss and rust from songs and breathing in bucolic life. It also evinces the leader’s sly eye toward earlier forms in the presence of Allan Jaffe’s lugubrious tuba in place of string bass. Drummer Yoichi Kimura kicks the cans with a rambunctious energy that recalls Cie Frazier, dropping woodblock and cowbell accents to further goad the horns. Bob Greene’s piano is a bit buried in the live mix, but the frontline of Robinson, cornetist Johnny Wiggs and clarinetist Raymond Burke has no trouble being heard. The set is also unique in featuring Robinson’s only know vocal on record, though his aged pipes are nothing to write home about. This disc might not be the finest trad jazz release of the year thus far --that distinction goes to the Jazz O’Maniacs in my opinion-- but it’s still a damn fine listen made all the more valuable by the comparative scarcity of sessions by Robinson at the wheel.

~ Derek Taylor