St. Louis Missouri native, saxophonist, composer, radio disc jockey, actor, director, playwright, and poet, Jeff started the band the Jeff Robinson Trio in 1995 as a bridge between music and theatre. The “Trio” accompanies poets at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA, and has a weekly residency that has lasted for more than 20 years. The Jeff Robinson Trio has performed with some of the best poets in the United States of America, including Patricia Smith, Amiri Baraka, and Quincy Troupe amongst thousands more.
Jeff is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he studied with saxophonists Bill Pierce and George Garzone. He’s studied theatre with the late Oleg Tabakov, Artistic Director of the legendary Moscow Art Theatre Company, and Shakespeare scholar Kristin Linklater. Jeff’s one-person show about jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker entitled “Live Bird” has appeared in New York City and Charlie Parker’s hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. “I knew Charlie as a man and not simply as a musical genius. Jeff portrays the Charlie I knew.” Widow, Doris Parker
He has directed several plays, including Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky” for which he received an Independent Reviewers of New England Awards (IRNE) nomination for Best Director. Robinson directed Craig Lucas’s “Reckless” for Theatre Zone and also his self-scripted “Alley Cats” at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, MA, with the Baldwin Theatre Company.
He received an IRNE Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of the ‘Stage Manager” in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at the Wheelock Theatre as well as his portrayal of Charlie Parker in “Live Bird” for the Baldwin Theatre. Jeff toured the United States portraying Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Grimes Theatre Group production of Jeff Stetson’s award-winning play “The Meeting.” His radio show “Poetry Jam” was aired on WMBR 88.1 FM in Cambridge and was streamed live via the internet. He has recorded for Rounder Records and is presently working on a new recording with his trio.
Jeff is also a freelance WordPress web developer. His web consultant business Levitate Web Solution has developed the official Charlie Parker website for his estate, the Online School of Poetry, amongst several others.