Herb Robertson (1951 – 2024)

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

 

By Martin Schray

“Once I start improvising I just can't think about other things,” Herb Robertson once said in an All About Jazz interview. “Improvisation, to me, that’s what exists: when I'm improvising, it's music.” Rarely has anyone summed up the essence of improvised music so succinctly. Now, sadly, the outstanding trumpeter Herb Robertson has passed away. The downtown scene in New York in the 1990s in particular would have been unthinkable without him.

Robertson was born in New Jersey in 1951 and began playing the trumpet at an early age. His high school music teacher introduced him to the music of Miles Davis and other great modern jazz trumpeters and Robertson was immediately infected by their music. As part of his early passion for jazz, he dug into the history of jazz and studied everything from Louis Armstrong to the avant-garde of the time. After high school, during the years from 1969 to 73, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston as an instrumental performance major, a period in which his improvisational skills became highly developed. He then went to Canada, where he was the leader of various jazz and jazz-rock formations. But there were also early setbacks: in 1975, Herb Robertson had to interrupt his musical career because he had to take a break due to the constant loudness in the various venues. As a result, he also changed his style and turned to more lyrical and sound-exploring music. In the late 1970s, during sessions with Ed Schuller's groups, he met alto saxophonist Tim Berne, a musical soulmate. His groups in the 1980s brought him to the attention of a wider audience. His lyricism, tonal distortions and use of mutes looked back to jazz's past, while his freer improvising was quite futuristic, which was an excellent match for Berne’s music and his emotional playing. During this time he also met Mark Helias, with whom he was also musically connected for a very long time. “I still love to swing. That is deep inside so I like to go back and forth. I like to play through. I like to play lines. I like to play lyrical, melodic lines on the trumpet,” Robertson said in an interview with Fred Jung, and that sums up his style perfectly. The trumpeter recorded his initial leader album in 1985, and has since appeared on over 100 recording projects. As a leader he began putting together his own adventurous bands in 1986 and has recorded for the JMT, Splasc(h), Clean Feed, Leo, Nottwo, CIMP and Cadence labels.

Of these more than 100 recordings, I would like to recommend a few particularly outstanding ones. First and foremost his quintet recording Transparency (JMT, 1985) with a true all-star line-up: Tim Berne (saxophone), Bill Frisell (guitar), Lindsey Horner (bass) and Joey Baron (drums). His first recorded album, Mutant Variations (Soul Note, 1983) with Ed Schuller (bass), Berne again on saxophone and Paul Motian on drums. The album shows what an enormous talent Robertson was and is an early proof of his lifelong attachment to European labels. The same applies to Split Image (Enja, 1985) with Mark Helias (bass), Tim Berne (sex), Dewey Redman (sax) and Gerry Hemingway. He also had a long friendship with bassist Joe Fonda, recorded on From the Source (Konnex, 1997) with Fonda, Anthony Braxton (saxophone), Grisha Alexiev (drums), Brenda Bufalino (tap dance) and Vicki Dodd (vocals). Of his latest recordings, Plain (Clean Feed, 2020) is worth mentioning, with Simon Nabatov (piano), Chris Speed (saxophone), John Hébert (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums).

Tim Berne said about Robertson: “Herb was my mentor and musical sidekick for many years in the 80's and 90's. Every night was like a feature film full of astounding moments of beautifully inspired insanity. (...) He was really one of the few “true“ improvisors.“ May he rest in peace.

Watch Robertson with Tim Berne, Tom Rainey (drums) and Gregg Belilse-Chi (guitar):