Diane Roblin Discusses Her Music, Career, and Album ‘Breath of Fresh Air’

Through her lengthy and productive career, Diane Roblin has become a known commodity in the Canadian jazz scene, and it’s for good reason. Roblin has carved out a special place for herself amongst her peers, lauded for her ability to concoct powerful compositions and her unique keyboard style. As an artist, Roblin can pretty much do it all. She is a composer, pianist, electric keyboardist, and bandleader.

Many artists have tapped into her unique talents, including diverse collaborations with Charles Gayle, the rock band Rough Trade, and more. She has performed around the world at major venues and large festivals, but she calls Toronto home. It is where she built her career and formed her sextet called Life Force. It’s an elite team of collaborators featuring Kevin Turcotte (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), John Johnson (Soprano & Alto Sax), Jeff LaRochelle (Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet), George Koller (Acoustic & Electric Bass), and Tim Shia (Drums).

Roblin just released her latest album, Breath of Fresh Air. It is a must-listen for any modern jazz fan, showcasing her ability to cleverly combine, jazz, funk, and classical. The compositions are moving and freewheeling, not bound by any particular sound or style. Roblin and Life Force ensure to incorporate a lot of improvisation into their music-making as well. Koller acts as both bassist and album producer for Breath of Fresh Air. He helps lay down the foundation while his collaborators have a place to showcase their skills and talents.

Roblin joins us today for a conversation about her background, her musical style, performing live, and more.

How would you describe your own music?

Diane Roblin: “A combination of jazz, funk, impressionistic, pattern music, world music, contemporary… I have a love for horn bands, hence, Life Force has three horn players: trumpet/flugelhorn, saxes/bass clarinet, and soprano/alto. My music encourages everyone to play hard, connect with each other enjoy, play full out, enjoy free improvisation and have fun! My compositions are very diverse as I have studied world, jazz, electronic, classical, and contemporary kinds of music. And I enjoy free improvisation.”

What is the story behind the band name Life Force?

“I have a philodendron plant in my bay window that I have had for 40 years… This plant fills me with energy daily. My 2019 CD was called Life Force and that has been the name of my band ever since! In fact, the cover of that album had my plant photographed in artificial reality… so with the Artivive app aimed at the cover, the photo turns into a video playing one of my tunes! so cool! I actually could stand in the middle of it when wearing AR goggles.”

How would you describe your creative process?

“Pretty much just sitting down at the piano and improvising…”

Diane Roblin & Life Force ‘Breath of Fresh Air’ album artwork

Who are your biggest influences?

“I love and continue to be baffled by the amazing hands of McCoy Tyner. I play a lot of suspended fourth chords and am very comfortable with modal music. I studied electronic music with David Rosenboom who is a peer of Steve Reich, hence pattern music is reflected in my writing. I actually warm up to Bach and Bartok’s and I often played along with Herbie Hancock’s funk records when starting out.”

Do you ever get stage fright? What’s your solution for it?

“I do get stage fright. The worst thing is getting into your head while you are playing. You miss the music… I often (remind) myself prior to a gig that makes me nervous to focus and not to have the experience of eating a fabulous meal but only noticing the last bite, hence missing the whole thing. Staying in the moment. Listening to the other musicians and connecting again.”

Diane Roblin & Life Force, photo by Larry Larson

For those not familiar with your band can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

“The musicians in my band are truly A players, amongst the best of the best. They are experienced in-demand seasoned players and are very warm and supportive of the music and my original compositions. For me, it is important to have a family/band feeling so I try not to take any gigs where I have to find a sub. Throughout my many years in music, I played indie rock with Rough Trade to avant-garde Charles Gayle. I found I had other interests, although I spent a lot of time as a player, I had a sociology degree so I used it and added the work of a front line crisis counselling for teenage girls at a YWCA shelter, as well as becoming a Development Consultant in the film business.

“At one time I had all three careers going at once! Very productive and fulfilling times. Then, I took a hiatus to do some world travelling and then found myself back in touch with my music and started my Life Force band, now playing only my original music. Since then I have recorded three CDs as well. I also love performing free improvisation and telematic music.”

Diane Roblin, photo by Linda Marie Stella

What is your writing process like?

“To be honest, I am not sure where my compositional creativity comes from. I studied all kinds of music but never took any composition courses. My process is generally to sit at the piano and improvise and make note of ideas/riffs that interest me. And eventually, they become a tune or I may add a few together; old and new. There are some things I purposefully decided to write in a more challenging time signature, or on one recent tune, I wanted to have a canon in the middle. All are very current pieces on my latest CD Breath of Fresh Air…”

What is the story behind the name of the new record, Breath of Fresh Air?

“The cover is a photo I took of the morning mist on a picturesque lake, alkaline springs fed Spurr Lake, affectionately referred to as Chalice Lake by those familiar with it, near Bancroft, Ontario. I go to a wellness centre there every summer and recharge with nature as well as within (under the disk there is a photo of me in my kayak!) Also, as you may know, the second track is called ‘Breath of Fresh Air.’ I felt these two ideas worked well together. We all need a breath of fresh air, both literally and spiritually.”