JAZZ REVIEW : THE ‘UNKNOWN’ ROBINSON AT DONTE’S

Spike Robinson is beyond question one of a handful of contemporary giants of the tenor saxophone. Why, then, you might ask, have so few people heard of him? Why was there not a full house at Donte’s on Wednesday evening?

One reason is that Robinson, now in his late 50s, was virtually retired from music until a few years ago. More significantly, he lives in Boulder, Colo., and has escaped the attention of the influential but parochial New York jazz critics.

Robinson is a product of the mold that brought us Zoot Sims and Stan Getz. His sense of time is fantastic, his tone supple; he develops ideas in long, flowing phrases that are subliminally marked by bent tones, tremolos and other concepts that in no way interrupt the continuity.

The group assembled for his two nights at Donte’s consisted of Ross Tompkins at the piano (replaced by Marty Harris for the first set Wednesday), and the brilliant, frequently paired duo of John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums. Clayton’s solos (one of which was bowed) were admirable; the drum solos were for the most part expendable, and too numerous.

Although Robinson is a master of every tempo, as was evident in the swinging “Seems Like Old Times” and a cooking blues called “Sippin’ at Bells,” some of his most alluring work was heard in the ballads such as “Emily” and “You’ve Changed.”

Here, in short, is an artist who deserves exposure on a major record label, and attention from every serious student of the art of improvisation.