Robinson, Billy, 1939-2005

LC control no.	no2018111613
Descriptive conventions	rda
Personal name heading	Robinson, Billy, 1939-2005 *Browse this term in* LC Authorities or the LC Catalog
Variant(s)	Samad, Jathiya A., 1939-2005 Samad, Jathiya Abdus, 1939-2005
Associated country	United States
Located	Ottawa (Ont.)
Birth date	1939-05-31
Death date	2005-08-11
Place of birth	Fort Worth (Tex.)
Place of death	Ottawa (Ont.)
Field of activity	Jazz Music therapy
Profession or occupation	Jazz musicians Saxophonists Music therapists
Found in	El jazz canadiense, between 1970 and 1979?: label (Billy Robinson) OCLC, October 4, 2016 (access points: Robinson, Billy; Samad, Jathiya A., 1939- ; usage: Billy Robinson; Jathiya A. Samad) Jazzhouse website, 2005, viewed online October 4, 2016: the last post (Billy Robinson, tenor saxophone. Saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator Billy Robinson died in Ottawa on August 11, 2005, of a heart attack. Billy was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 31, 1939. A big-toned tenor in the great Texas tradition. Billy lived during the mid-'60s in San Francisco, and then moved to New York, where he worked with Charles Mingus 1969-70, but unfortunately never recorded with him. Billy converted to Islam in the late '60s, and was a practising Muslim for the rest of his life. He moved to Montreal when he married his first wife in 1970, but he was always ready to return to the United States for interesting gigs with his many musical friends. Their son Zurvan was born in 1970. In 1974, he married Suzanne Cyr and in 1978 they moved to Ottawa. Again, apart from the occasional, highly anticipated, local gig most of his work took him back to the U.S. Billy's recording debut was in January 1972, on Archie Shepp's Attica Blues (Impulse!), and in September of that year he recorded Evolution's Blend for Radio Canada International. In 1973 he appeared on pianist Sadik Hakim's Grey Cup Caper. In 1991 he recorded Doubt Dropping (Tocma), followed by A Short Turn to the Future (Tocma) in 1998. In April 2005, Billy recorded a new CD to be issued later in the year) Ottawa citizen, July 20, 1997, viewed online Oct. 4, 2016: (Billy Tom Williams; Billy Robinson's life follows the familiar route of contemporary American black life, from the civil rights movement to San Francisco's Summer of Love to the discovery of Islam amid the New York jazz scene of Charles Mingus and heroin, along the way it veers onto a path of holistic jazz healing. Billy's Muslim name is Jathiya Abdus Samad. Billy splits his time between practising in Ottawa, recording his music and pursuing his healing in The City -- New York -- with a holistic physician called "Dr. Ali." He is also working on a book about his music therapy, which combines musical theories, Islamic beliefs and some of the University of Ottawa psychology courses he took a few years back. He has used his time in Canada to study music, psychology and religion) Ottawa citizen, August 16, 2005, viewed online October 4, 2016: "Music scientist" a player and teacher (musician, composer and bandleader, and beloved as a warm, spiritual man, tenor saxophonist Billy Robinson once said he considered himself a "music scientist." Texas-born Robinson, a longtime resident of Ottawa died last Thursday [August 11, 2005] in Ottawa of a heart attack. He converted in the late 1960s, taking the Muslim name Jathiya Abdus Samad. By 1978, Robinson was living in Ottawa. Such interests led Robinson several years ago to study and practise music therapy. Blending his studies in psychology at the University of Ottawa with his religious beliefs, Robinson composed musical pieces to accompany his therapeutic treatments, some of which he carried out in New York City in collaboration with a holistic doctor. Robinson was writing a book on the subject, Audioneural Musiciatry, along with another publication, Jazz Improvisation and the Art of Self, when he died)
Associated language	eng