Back to:

Trombone players related
to the New Orleans Jazz Style

Trombone players related to the Swing and Modern Style

Trombone Links

Trombone Practice Chart

Photos and Illustrations

Jim Robinson was a very reliable New Orleans trombonist who was much more consistent than most of the musicians he performed with, never seeming to have an off day. A jazz pioneer, Robinson played guitar as a child and started playing trombone in 1917, while stationed in France during World War I; he was already 24. He started working in New Orleans in 1919 with Kid Rena, the Golden Leaf Band, and the Tuxedo Band. In 1923, Robinson became part of the Morgan band which, under Sam Morgan's leadership, had a recording session in 1927. He was a fixture in New Orleans for decades, playing with many local groups while working days in the 1930s as a longshoreman. Robinson was part of Kid Rena's 1940 recording session and joined Bunk Johnson's band in 1942, meeting up with George Lewis. He returned to New Orleans with Lewis in 1946, and was a part of Lewis' popular band during the 1950s and '60s, touring the world and recording extensively. He was the top musician in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the 1970s, staying active until his death at age 83. Jim Robinson recorded as a leader for AM (1944), Riverside (1961), Atlantic, Pearl, Jazz Crusade, and finally Smoky Mary (January 1976).

Soundclip: Walking with the King

Two of the best-loved musicians in New Orleans jazz were both trombonists, big men in every sense of the word and both fine trombonists. One was Louis Nelson and the other, of course, was Nathan “Big Jim” Robinson. He was born at a plantation on Christmas Day, 1892 at Deer Range, Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi, but don’t look for it on a map today since back in 1975 its population was reported to be down to only ten souls after a hurricane some years previously. In fact it was located about 35 miles from New Orleans down river towards the Gulf on the east bank close to Pointe à la Hache 437. Professor J.B. Humphrey organised the Deer Range Band at the turn of the century, a band in which Chris Kelly played with his brother Ben Kelly. Of the more than twenty brass bands known to have been in existence in and around New Orleans at the turn of the century over half were under the direct influence of Professor Humphrey. It is possible that the Deer Range Band could have been an early influence on Jim Robinson but no-one seems able to confirm this. Burke Stevenson, (another pupil of Humphrey’s, and bass player with the Kid Thomas Dixieland Band in the 1950s) when interviewed by Bill Russell, recalled, “The Deer Range Band was pretty good; it played for dances and parades. On holidays, if they did not have enough bands in the city they would hire them out of the country.” Additionally from Deer Range was Jim’s nephew, Sidney Brown, the string bass and tuba player, also known as Jim Little, born in 1894. It seems that the “Big Jim” nickname for Nathan Robinson and “Jim Little” for Sidney Brown came about as a family joke arising from a disparity in their respective sizes. Jim Robinson’s other nickname, “Jim Crow” is said to have derived from a degree of Red Indian influence in his high-cheek boned appearance, and some have claimed that he had Indian blood in his ancestry. Brown moved to New Orleans in 1912 and his first job was in 1916 with Sam Morgan. After his discharge in 1919 from military service, he played violin in the Golden Leaf Band, alongside his uncle and the two of them were together on the classic sides with Sam Morgan. Eventually Sidney got religion and afterwards he would only play in church. He died in 1968. However, I digress.

Jim Robinson studied guitar as a kid but took up the trombone during his army service in France during the first World War, and picked up some tips from Willie Foster who served with him. On his discharge in 1919 he worked as a longshoreman in New Orleans and took the opportunity to listen to the bands at Economy Hall which happened to be near where lived. He practiced trombone with his sister’s player piano as accompaniment, and had a few lessons from Excelsior Brass Band trombonist Sonny Henry. When one night Kid Rena’s trombonist failed to show at Economy Hall, Jim was fortuitously on hand and got the job. He then played with Lee Collins in Jesse Jackson’s Golden Leaf Band as well as parading with the Tuxedo Brass Band from the same year of 1920. In 1923 he played with Isaiah Morgan and continued with the Sam Morgan Band, with whom he was a fixture for more than a decade, both recording on the justly famous Columbia sides in 1927 and going as far as Chicago in 1929. Although, as far as I am aware, there is no mention of it in any oral history it seems reasonable to suppose that the early parallels between the careers of Jim Robinson and Sidney Brown, together with their later association on the American Music recordings of the 1950s, was a result of their family connection. After the break-up of the Morgan band in 1933, Jim was occasionally active during the Depression with Kid Howard, and also with John Handy at the La Vida Dance Hall, but for the rest of the 1930s his regular occupation was working in the riverside docks as a labourer.

However, it is also worth repeating that even at the best of times few New Orleans musicians worked full-time at music, preferring the security of a day job. When a trombonist was wanted for the Kid Rena session in 1940 for Delta, Jim, tired after a parade, was found asleep on some barroom steps by Orin Blackstone and Big Eye Louis Nelson. The eight titles that were recorded for Heywood Broun on the Delta label in one day in effect marked the beginning of the New Orleans jazz revival. In my opinion these historic recordings have been greatly underrated. Rena’s playing at the time had serious limitations since half his face was paralysed due to an earlier stroke. Despite his great reputation of earlier days among his fellow musicians, Rena was clearly past his prime, not surprisingly in view of his poor general health. Nevertheless, he gave a creditable performance of great charm, hinting profoundly at past achievements. At the same time and equally significantly, exposure was given to Jim Robinson for the benefit of those to whom the Morgan band recordings were unknown or at best unheard. The tracks show him quickly able to come up to the mark with full-toned, confident contributions despite his longish layoff from regular work. Over the next few years he was to usurp Kid Ory as the role model for many, probably most, traditional jazz trombonists. His vigorous “down home” style became justly popular and he was to achieve world-wide fame with Bunk Johnson in the 1940s in New York at the Stuyvesant Casino and with George Lewis after Bunk died. Jim toured extensively in the States with Lewis, and came to Europe in 1959. From 1960 he frequently played with the bands of Percy Humphrey, and Sweet Emma Barrett, as well as leading groups of his own. In 1966 and ‘67 he toured the United States with Billie and DeDe Pierce on the college circuit. At Preservation Hall, and everywhere he played, he had a loyal following to whom he endeared himself both with his highly individual and exuberant technique coupled with a personal amiability of genuine warmth. According to Clive Wilson, Jim’s favourite clarinet player was Louis Cottrell, which may come as a surprise to some, whilst Bill Bissonnette reported that Jim was extremely devoted to Louis Armstrong. His discography demonstrates that he made very many recordings of great musical quality too numerous to mention in this introduction. However, I will mention a favourite of mine, the Birthday Memorial Session in 1973 with Yoshio and Keiko Toyama. All jazz musicians have their favourite licks and use them regularly but even at this late, late stage of his career Jim was able to cut it and come up with some fresh ideas. Get a load of his solo after Sing Miller’s vocal on “Dinah.”

Not long before Jim died in 1976 he was reported by Valerie Wilmer in an article for Melody Maker as saying, “It’s the English boys who can really play now. We’re looking to them to carry on.” My interpretation is that he would not necessarily discriminate between the English boys and the many other English-speaking Europeans who made their pilgrimages to New Orleans, but whichever way one looks at his comment it is both a great compliment, and a heavy responsibility. We are fortunate that there are many trombonists who have carried on in Jim’s footsteps with distinction. It is well to remember that most of Jim’s life and career took place before the Civil Rights movement and although New Orleans always had a somewhat more relaxed racial attitude; nevertheless he was a black man whose pride and dignity were often affronted by racial intolerance and bigotry. He would confide with friends his hurt as a man being referred to as “boy.” He would bridle in private at the mean and petty restrictions imposed on public association with the many white disciples who began to migrate to New Orleans from the 1950s but it is a tribute to his strength of character that his playing was always able to surmount those sordid constraints. Although capable of a deep melancholy in his interpretation of the blues, the overriding impression of his trombone playing is of a life-affirming joyfulness epitomised by his ebullient lead on the trumpet-less 1944 recording of “Ice Cream”. According to Ken Colyer, Jim’s sister married Jimmie Noone. Curiously, Jim was well-known in refusing to eat gumbo 438 thickened with filé (powdered sassafras leaf) preferring it the authentic African way: thickened with okra. Both Jim Robinson and Louis Nelson reached great ages yet despite their advanced years they continued to play almost as well as ever right up until most of us have long since retired. Jim died on May 4, 1976 after a relatively short illness. I sometimes find it hard to believe that he’s been gone over twenty years. Then again, he hasn’t gone at all and we’ve got the records to prove it.

Source: The Song For Me - Brian Wood

Amongst the legendary bands with whom he worked were Jesse Jackson’s Golden Leaf Band (in which were Lee Collins and Pops Foster) and the Tuxedo Brass Band.

According to Samuel Charters in his book ”New Orleans 1885-1957” Jim joined Isaiah Morgan’s ”Young Morgan” Band and stayed with them when it became Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band. They recorded for Columbia in 1927 and were in Chicago during 1929. When the band broke up, Jim worked with Kid Howard at the La Vida dance hall until about 1939.

Sam Charters tells of how Jim came to be involved in the revival of interest in New Orleans music in 1940. ”He played a lot of brass band jobs with Kid Howard’s Brass Band, and had just returned from a parade in 1940 when Kid Rena and Big Eye Louis Nelson found him sleeping on the steps of a barroom at Dumaine and Villere, his trombone across his lap. They woke him up and got him to the first recording session of the revival period, the Kid Rena recordings for Heywood Hal Broun.”

Jim toured with the Bunk Johnson Band in 1945 and since that time has been continually in the Lewis Band. Jim’s real name is Nathan Robinson, though for the majority of his playing career he was called Jim Crow.

Source: Brian Harvey, 1959

This page is dedicated to Jim Robinson. You’ll find information, photos, soundclips and it’s growing and growing so it’s not finished yet. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!!

My first contact with Jim Robinson must have been when I was a little baby! My father at that time was a famous Dutch trombonist and a real Robinson adept. So I grew up with LP’s and tapes from New Orleans music and especially those with the trombone of Jim. It isn’t hard to tell why somebody like me is grabbed by the Jim Robinson virus. It’s simply fascinating the way that Jim as a tromboneplayer threat the trombone and threat the New Orleans music.

If you really are interested and studied Jim Robinson, than you are amazed of several aspects. In my reader ‘The Spirit Of The Lewis/Ewell Quartet’ I mention lots of things about the way Jim blows his horn. Timing, melody, contrast, volume, tone colour actually the contrast in his manner of play is astonishing. People (some call them trombonist), says the Jim Robinson is playing very simple, too simple! That’s absolut wrong! On the contrary, Jim got his own trombone technique and that is sufficient and not simple but just really fantastic! For example: there is no one with such a great one note attack. On videotape sometimes it looks that the note he played is there in front of his attack! It’s not simple, it’s just difficult! Like the famous Ducht painter, Piet Mondriaan, who paints a whole picture with a couple of lines and colours. So we can compare Jim’s play with that. To do things with very few elements shows a true artistic way of thinking and it remains always thrilling and original!!