Orphy Robinson’s journey from the slickly tailored 1980s British jazz boom to the wilder shores of free improvisation has been a fascinating one. That journey has taken in collaborations with Nigel Kennedy and Robert Wyatt, reimaginings of Nick Drake and Van Morrison, and a celebration of the great Jamaican songbook. This month, he brings his vibraphone and electronics to The Old Hairdresser’s for a first-time collaboration with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. ‘I think of myself as genre fluid,’ he relates with an infectious enthusiasm. ‘I was one of those nosy kids into music full stop; it didn’t really matter what it was.’ Growing up in London’s Stoke Newington, Robinson was exposed to reggae, jazz, funk and rock. He even took an interest in Scottish bagpipe music, playing snare drum in a youth band.

A virtuoso on vibraphone and marimba, Robinson received his jazz initiation through mentors Ray Carless and Claude Deppa. Carless, a great saxophonist who sadly passed away last year, encouraged Robinson to attend workshops by John Stevens, the pioneering free improviser and community music specialist. ‘Ray had said “you need to try different stuff out, you can’t just be dreaming of being in Earth, Wind & Fire!” And so he sent me off to this workshop in Dalston.’ 

While he made his breakthrough in the mid-80s as a member of Jazz Warriors, (the all-Black group that launched the careers of Courtney Pine, Steve Williamson, Cleveland Watkiss and Gary Crosby, among others), Robinson found himself increasingly drawn to avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. ‘I remember touring with Courtney Pine and being on the same bill as Sun Ra Arkestra and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. And that completely blew my mind. We look like estate agents in our suits, and there’s the Sun Ra Arkestra, who are not dressed like that in any way! Coming back off that tour, I’d turn up at a lot of improv gigs, just checking things out. And then I got more and more involved.’

Robinson’s contemporary jazz albums for Blue Note in the early 90s drew on his love of reggae, funk and groove. But in 1997, he was approached to play in the American cornetist and composer Butch Morris’ London Skyscraper project. Morris was the originator of conduction, a type of free improvisation where the composer directs and conducts an ensemble through a system of hand and baton gestures. That project steeped Robinson in different ways of organising sound and introduced him to several leading improvisers, including Pat Thomas, his partner in the collaborative platform Black Top. The tour with Morris led to the formation of London Improvisers Orchestra. ‘I always enjoyed it,’ he adds, ‘even getting in a conduction once in a while.’

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra shares LIO’s interest in conduction, but also works with graphic scores and other stimuli. GIO’s Raymond MacDonald outlines the plan for their gig with Robinson. ‘Drawing on Orphy’s extensive experience of collaborating and improvising in a dazzling array of situations, this performance will include a new piece exploring the possibilities of large ensemble improvising and composition.’ The emphasis, he continues, will be on ‘co-creation’ with a new piece emerging from a workshop led by Robinson on the morning of the gig. ‘This is a unique opportunity to hear Orphy, one of the UK’s leading jazz voices, in a small intimate environment with a large ensemble dedicated to exploring all the avenues available for improvisation.’

Robinson is happy to go with whatever GIO throws at him. ‘I’m absolutely up for anything,’ he grins. Free improvisation is often seen as abstract, even austere music, but the beauty of it is that nothing is off limits. Robinson lights up when I tell him about the curveballs GIO’s guests have thrown over the years: drummer Ken Hyder locking into funk groove, vocalist Maggie Nicols quoting a jazz ballad. ‘It’s all music. It’s all sound. It’s all frequencies. It’s when the musical conversation feels right to go in a particular direction,’ says Robinson. ‘But the great thing that I always found with 360-degree improvisers was that they could go in any direction. When I came into free improv it made me more of a complete musician.’ 

GIO plus Orphy Robinson, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow, Saturday 17 June. Glasgow Jazz Festival runs until Sunday 18 June.