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All Music Guide:
Though an often fierce and spirited alto saxophonist, Robin Kenyatta has enjoyed a rather uneven career, particularly in terms of recordings. His best material has been in the hard bop and free vein, where his solos have been both intense and imaginative. Other times he's done more contemporary material that's been overproduced and unmemorable. Kenyatta played with Bill Dixon in the mid-'60s, and was featured during a series of New York concerts Dixon co-sponsored called "The October Revolution in Jazz." He recorded with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Stitt, Dixon, Archie Shepp, and Barry Miles in the mid- and late '60s, before heading his own bands. Kenyatta recorded with Alan Silva and Andrew Hill in the '70s. During the late '70s, he flirted with instrumental pop; in the '80s and '90s he has tried to find a comfortable middle ground between fusion, instrumental pop, and his hard bop and free music roots. Kenyatta has recorded for Vortex/Atlantic, ECM, ITM and Jazz Dance.
Wikipedia:
Robin Kenyatta (March 6, 1942 – October 28, 2004) was an American jazz alto saxophonist.
Career
Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States, Kenyatta grew up in New York. He played with Bill Dixon there in the 1960s, playing with his project "The October Revolution in Jazz". Later that decade he played with Jazz Composer's Orchestra, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Stitt, Archie Shepp, and Buddy Miles among others. In the 1970s he played with Alan Silva and Andrew Hill; for a brief time he experimented with instrumental pop music during this decade as well. He moved to Europe during that decade, finding it easier to make a living there as a jazz musician.
Later, he played with musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, B. B. King, Dr. John and George Benson, played the Montreux Jazz Festival, and went with his own groups on a European tour. He also led a jazz school in Lausanne. In 2002, Kenyatta was again back in the United States and active as a director of music in Boston.
He died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2004.
