Virtuoso jazz player searches for the sublime

Award-winning Chicago sax master to perform with CapU ensemble

The contrabass saxophone stands nearly two metres tall and weighs 20-plus kilos. The largest member of the instrument family Adolphe Sax patented in 1846 enjoyed a very short period of popularity in the late 1800s. By the 1930s, this gargantuan piece of the brass all but vanished, and only a few dozen originals remain.

Scott Robinson owns one of these vintage pieces and regularly performs on it.

It is only one of many offbeat instruments this adventurous multiple Grammy Award-winning American jazz composer and musician has in the workshop where he crafts recordings for his ScienSonic Laboratories label. The tireless sonic explorer says he isn't sure how many different items are housed in the space, which also serves as a shop for repairing and maintaining his rare instrument collection.

Reached on the phone following a gig in Chicago with frequent collaborator Roscoe Mitchell, Robinson talked about his coming performance of works by composers Maria Schneider, Bob Brookemeyer and Thad Jones, with various configurations of the CapU Jazz Ensembles formed of students in Capilano University's acclaimed music program. Aside from his saxes, he isn't sure which other pieces he will bring to the performance.

“There are hundreds of instruments here, many of them one of a kind, and others are just impressive looking junk,” he said. “It's all about the sound, because I am a sound addict. Besides the instruments, there are also things like car parts and other metallic things I find that make an interesting sound and file away to use.”

On Jan. 1, he embarked on a year-long project exploring the full range of potential tones that could come out of his “sound trove.” The esoteric exploration stands in stark contrast to other projects that range from swinging traditional jazz to meditative solo sax suites and more.

“Called A Year of Sound, I'm playing a few seconds on a different instrument every day and then stringing theme all together at the end into a final piece,” he said. “It could range from a small bell one day to a broken barrel organ the next and I'm quite excited to see what comes out at the end. I expect it will be only about six and a half minutes long at the end of all that time, but I could record much more than 365 days' worth of new sounds with what I have here.”

On most of the 275-plus recordings he has participated on, Robinson is playing tenor saxophone. From such major names as Maria Schneider, Lionel Hampton and Paquito D'Rivera to sessions with improvising titans such as Mitchell and Milford Graves, making topnotch music is Robinson's calling card. Most recently, the Scott Robinson Quartet's 2019 release, titled Tenormore, won album of the year in JazzTimes' poll of readers.

“There was a time when a writer commented that I was putting out over 12 albums a year, and that probably was too low,” he said. “They aren't all things I'm proud of, as any player knows about those bit parts on some singer's album or something. But I have been in a prolific period recently with recordings ranging from a solo sax album called Solipsisms for unaccompanied C-melody sax and a live album at the Visions festival in 2018, which I'm very happy with.”

Performing with students is an experience he really enjoys, although the musician readily admits that he doesn't have a long history as an educator. Where many of his peers have taken teaching positions, Robinson has preferred to do residencies or clinics such as his series at CapU. One thing remains constant with any meeting of musical minds.

“It sounds corny, but it all comes down to the purity of heart of the players,” he said. “This music demands that of you and, very early on, it becomes clear who is there for the music and who is not. Music school is a great experience to add to and deepen your tool kit and inspiration.”

Chances are Robinson isn't likely to ignite a contrabass sax revival among jazz students. But he does hope to push them to play whatever there is that sounds right to them.