Jim Robinson

Who was Jim Robinson?

Jim Robinson, also known as Big Jim Robinson was an American jazz musician, based in New Orleans, renowned for his deep, wide-toned, robust "tailgate" style of trombone playing, using the slide to achieve a wide swoop between two notes and rhythmic effects.

Born Nathan Robinson in Deer Range, a tiny settlement on the west bank of lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, where he studied music under James Brown Humphrey. He arrived in New Orleans looking for work shortly before the Great Hurricane of 1915 which wiped out his home town of Deer Range, which prompted Robinson to settle in the city. He was playing professionally in his twenties, from World War I on. In the 1920s he made his first recordings as a member of the Sam Morgan Jazz Band. He achieved gained greater fame with the resurgence of interest in early New Orleans jazz starting in the 1940s as a regular member of the bands of Bunk Johnson and George Lewis. Occasionally, he also led his own band and appeared regularly at Preservation Hall in his later years.

Robinson's widely recognized, individualistic sound was influential with many later traditional and New Orleans-style jazz trombonists in the United States and Europe. These included two protégés whom Robinson tutored personally—Frank Demond and Big Bill Bissonnette; Robinson's influence is more evident in the former.