George Robert

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George Paul Robert (born September 16, 1960 in Geneva ; † March 14, 2016 ) was a Swiss jazz musician ( alto and soprano saxophone , clarinet, piano, composition) and music teacher. As one of the first Swiss musicians to establish themselves in the North American scene, he and Tom Harrell led a quintet that, after Martin Kunzler, was one of the leading mainstream combos in the Phil Woods successor.

Live and act

Robert received piano lessons from the age of nine; a year later he concentrated on the clarinet, which he studied at the Geneva Conservatory until 1978 . In addition, he worked as a pianist and accompanied traveling soloists such as Clark Terry and Harry Sweets Edison . In the United States he completed a music degree at Berklee College of Music (1984) and then until 1987 at the Manhattan School of Music ; he also took private lessons with Phil Woods. As early as 1984 he was leading a highly regarded quartet with which he made guest appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival and other festivals. In 1987 he founded a quartet with Tom Harrell, in which Dado Moroni , Reggie Johnson and Bill Goodwin played and with whom he performed internationally until 1994. Robert also played with Lionel Hampton , the Lew Tabackin / Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, Alan Dawson , Robin Eubanks , Benny Green , Fred Hersch , Adrienne West and Alain Guyonnet . He also recorded as a guest soloist with the Metropole Orkest . In 2001 he performed with Clark Terry at the Bern Jazz Festival.

From 1995 to 2006 he headed the Swiss Jazz School in Bern, from 2006 to 2016 the jazz department of the Lausanne Music Academy; he also taught at the universities of Calgary and British Columbia and gave courses at other institutions, such as the workshops of Phil Nimmons and Bud Shank . Robert lived in Vancouver and Switzerland. Robert died in March 2016 of complications from a leukemia disease.

Discographic notes

Lexigraphic entries

  • Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .
  • Bruno Spoerri (Hrsg.): Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Jazz CD supplement to: Bruno Spoerri (Hrsg.): Jazz in Switzerland. History and stories . Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in SRF
personal data
SURNAME Robert, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robert, George Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 2016