Greg Robinson
Greg’s Contributions
May 2001 Albums
Lilacs & Laughter
Florian Ross Brass Project
This recording of 13 original compositions for brass octet and rhythm section is a remarkable achievement for the young German pianist and composer Florian Ross. Its release follows that of Ross' Suite for Soprano Sax and String Orchestra (Naxos) which was...
May 2001 Albums
Flurries Warm and Clear
Steve Swell Trio
The liner notes for Flurries Warm and Clear state that this is Swell's fifth recording as a leader for free-jazz-oriented CIMP. Why this Newark-born brass master is not better known outside New York trombone and free-jazz circles is a fair question, because...
March 2001 Hearsay
Wycliffe Gordon
As a featured sideman with Wynton Marsalis, trombonist Wycliffe “Pinecone” Gordon amassed a fine international reputation, based on his effusively swinging style and unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute. Now, Gordon has arrived as a skillful and...
January/February 2001 Albums
Relaxing at Sea: Live on the QE2
Lou Donaldson Quartet
Forget about the casual atmosphere and rampant stage patter; this is an excellent album strictly on musical terms. Donaldson's longtime organist, Dr. Lonnie Smith, has been at the peak of his powers for several years now. "Best organist in the country...
January/February 2001 Albums
No Walls
Virginia Mayhew
No Walls is a musically solid outing by New York saxophonist Virginia Mayhew, heard here on tenor and soprano. Pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Harvie Swartz and drummer Allison Miller supply Mayhew and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen with crisp, modern, mainstream...
December 2000 Hearsay
Steve Davis
Trombonist Steve Davis comes from a musical family, but not in the traditional sense. His parents were not professional musicians, but music lovers, especially his father, who had a large record collection at their Binghamton, N.Y. home. “It was through...
November 2000 Features
Matt Wilson: Utility Player
Drummer Matt Wilson’s musical sensibility lies somewhere between the country and the city, the sublime and the superfluous, the avant-garde and the mainstream. Since he broke through in 1996, the jazz and mainstream media have been effusive in their praise...
November 2000 Albums
Communication Theory
David Berkman
Although the disc begins somewhat jarringly, with the angular "Blues for Bluto," played in two keys at once, it turns out to be a fine album of contemporary mainstream jazz, featuring some of the most formidable musicians in New York. It is hard to go wrong...
November 2000 Albums
Rainbow Mountain
Lew Soloff and Company
Rainbow Mountain is a current example of a blowing session, featuring groove-oriented material, including a number of songs borrowed from the rock arena (Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," John Fogerty's "Born on the Bayou," Jimi Hendrix's "Up From the...
November 2000 Albums
Heart of Hearts
Rick Margitza
The former late-'80s associate of Miles Davis returns with his seventh album as a leader, and first since 1997's Game of Chance (Challenge). Margitza has an unabashedly romantic streak, which he grants full reign on this quartet recording featuring pianist...
October 2000 Hearsay
Jean-Michel Pilc
Jean-Michel Pilc is a rocket scientist. Rather, he was. Pilc has an engineering background, and he worked with rockets and satellites in his native France before returning to his first love—jazz. Even with his scientific training and the deep relationship...
July/August 2000 Hearsay
Paul Nash
On the second CD by his nine-piece ensemble, the Manhattan New Music Project, guitarist, composer and arranger Paul Nash builds on the foundations of predecessors Gil Evans, Charles Mingus and Weather Report, to create a “classical jazz” ensemble sound that...
June 2000 Label Watch
Label Watch: New Artists Records
For pianist Connie Crothers, being president of a record company is simply one element of her life in music. Since its founding, Manhattan-based New Artists Records (www.newartistsrecords.com) has grown from a sole proprietorship with one recording in its...
June 2000 Features
Unity: JazzTimes Superband
In drummer Rafi Zabor’s remarkable book, The Bear Comes Home (W. W. Norton, 1998), there is a part in which the hero of the story—a talking, alto saxophone-playing bear—is making his debut recording, for fictional Tin Palace records. It is a live date, and...
December 1998 Hearsay
Reuben Hoch
Drummer Reuben Hoch, perhaps best known for his work in the 1980s with the pioneering Israeli jazz group, Zaviot, has been leading his own group, the RH Factor, since 1994. With a repertoire centering on Hoch’s own compositions, the RH Factor plays muscular...
November 1998 Hearsay
Stefon Harris
After working as a sideman with such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis and Joe Henderson, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, 25, has made his first recording as a leader. A Cloud of Red Dust (Blue Note) is a showcase for Harris’s burgeoning talents, featuring 10 of...
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