Perry Robinson

Clarinetist Perry Robinson spent his entire career pursuing the formidable goal of becoming an avant-garde innovator on an instrument long identified with swing-era traditions. Rigorous training, which included attendance at the Lenox School of Jazz in 1959, led to associations with forward-looking players such as Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, and Bill Dixon. He performed in Roswell Rudd’s quintet during 1968, contributed to multiple Jazz Composers’ Orchestra projects, and joined Gunter Hampel in 1972. A brief departure from his usual path came the following year when he appeared with Dave Brubeck’s Two Generations of Brubeck ensemble, though he soon resumed recording and presenting avant-garde jazz. Perry Robinson died in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 2, 2018, at age eighty after heart valve surgery.