Yves Robert is a French trombonist and composer, born on January 17, 1958 in Chamalières, in the Auvergne. He studied flute and trombone at the conservatoire in Vichy until 1976 and, by the account on French Wikipedia, played Dixieland while studying agronomy in Nancy, sometimes with his brother Guy, before moving through hard bop in Lyon and free jazz in Nancy. He joined the ARFI collective in Lyon and its big band, the Marmite Infernale, and the GRIM in Marseille in 1983, where he took part in organising concerts, festivals and workshops. Wikipedia and his Discogs profile say he played in Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath and in Bernard Lubat's Compagnie Lubat; no record credit confirming either was found, so those two are reported as biography only.

The earliest credit found is on Patchwork Dinard (OFAJ 58 433, 1982), recorded at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg by the Deutsch-Französisches Jazz Ensemble, a band led by Henri Texier and the trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, with Robert on trombone. In 1983 he plays on Moralité-Surprise (ARFI Move AM 007), recorded at Studio Cybernis in Lyon in June and July with the Marmite Infernale, whose reed section includes Louis Sclavis. His first records as a leader date from that year as well. Trombone Solo (ARFI Move AM 006) is thirteen pieces for trombone alone, recorded in Lyon on January 19 and 20 and March 20, 1983, and Anna S. et autres histoires (GRIM Musiques) is a trio record with the guitarist Jean-Marc Montera and the percussionist Gérard Siracusa, recorded at the Dunois in Paris on April 11 and 12. In 1985 he played trombone on the bassist Didier Levallet's Quiet Days... (Evidence EV 101), recorded in Amiens on June 2, 3 and 5 with the saxophonist Chris Biscoe and the drummer Tony Marsh. The Paris Quartet (Intakt 012), with the pianist Irène Schweizer, the bassist Joëlle Léandre and the saxophonist Daunik Lazro, joins a set recorded at the Théâtre Dunois in April 1985 to one recorded at the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris in April 1987.

In 1986 he was one of three trombonists in the first Orchestre national de jazz, directed by the saxophonist François Jeanneau, whose live set from the Friedrichstadtpalast in Berlin on June 29, 1986 was later issued by Amiga as Jazz Bühne Berlin 1986. Orchestre National de Jazz 86 (Label Bleu LBC 6503) credits him alongside the bassist Michel Benita, the guitarist Marc Ducret, the saxophonist Jean-Louis Chautemps and the drummer Aaron Scott, with John Scofield as a guest guitarist. Scott was also the drummer of the trio Robert formed in 1988 with the bassist Bruno Chevillon, which made Des satellites avec des traces de plumes (Evidence EVC 08, 1990) in December 1989 at Studio Gimmick, produced by GRIM Musiques. He appears on trombone on tracks 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 of Marc Ducret's Gris (Label Bleu LBLC 6531), recorded at Studio Charles Cros from May 7 to 10, 1990.

From 1989 he was a regular in the groups of the Lyon clarinettist Louis Sclavis. Chamber Music (IDA 022 CD), recorded in July and September 1989 at Gimmick Studio in Yerres, is credited to the Louis Sclavis Septet: Sclavis, the violinist Dominique Pifarély, the guitarist Philippe Deschepper, the pianist François Raulin, Chevillon on bass, Robert on trombone and Michel Godard on tuba. The sextet records that followed list him on trombone: Ellington on the Air (IDA 032 CD), recorded in December 1991 at Gimmick with one track live at the Théâtre d'Aubagne on February 11, 1992, and Les Violences de Rameau (ECM 1588, 1996), built on Rameau's opera Les Boréades, on which he also has a transcription credit on track 3 and composer credits on tracks 5 and 11. He plays on tracks 3 to 5 of Sclavis's Danses et autres scènes (Label Bleu LBLC 6616, 1997), and he is the trombonist on track 6 of Michel Portal's Any Way (Label Bleu LBLC 6544, 1993), whose cast includes Ducret, Daniel Humair and Jean-François Jenny-Clark.

He recorded again with Ducret on News from the Front (JMT 849 148-2, 1992), a quartet with the trumpeter Herb Robertson and the percussionist François Verly, recorded at Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg in June and July 1991.

His own records of the 1990s came out mostly on the Deux Z label. Tout court (ZZ 84103, recorded in June 1991) is a quartet with the bassist Claude Tchamitchian, Deschepper and the percussionist Xavier Desandre Navarre, and Tout de suite (ZZ 84113, 1994) adds the drummer Alfred Spirli; some of its titles pair the names of standards ("Ornithology", "Lament", "Lush Life") with new subtitles. With the guitarist David Chevallier he made Migration (Adda ADDA 590094, 1992), with the reed player Laurent Dehors, the bassist François Moutin and Humair on drums, and (Music Is A) Noisy Business (Deux Z ZZ84128, 1998), with the bassist Hélène Labarrière and the drummer François Verly. Été (ZZ 84133), recorded in January 1999, has Dehors, Labarrière, Chevallier and the drummer Cyril Atef, and includes a version of Gershwin's "Summertime" under the title "C'vieux mal aux cheveux". In between he issued L'Extrême ordinaire (1992), a cassette and book with texts by Jean-Paul Curnier, and, in 1994, the co-led Matador (Olongapo) with Wolfgang Reisinger, Wolfgang Mitterer and Klaus Dickbauer.

Free improvisation runs through those years. In 1991 he was one of the musicians at Derek Bailey's Company Week, five days of freely improvised music, and Company 91 Volume 1 (Incus CD16, 1994) lists him on trombone alongside Bailey and John Zorn. In June 1994 he played at Les Instants Chavirés in Montreuil with Bailey, the guitarist Noël Akchoté, the trombonist Thierry Madiot and Lazro; the set, with all compositions credited to Robert and Madiot, appeared in 2016 as L'Astrolab (1994 02-1). He recorded Translucide (Enja, 2000) with the cellist Vincent Courtois, Akchoté and Godard, and was a guest on trombone with the Dolmen Orchestra, conducted by Nicola Pisani, on Minotrauma (Leo Records, 2001), recorded in Bari in March 2001.

From 1997 he was back in the Orchestre national de jazz under its new artistic director Didier Levallet, and the three albums Levallet made with the orchestra, ONJ Express (Evidence EVCD825, released March 27, 1998), Sequences (Evidence EVCD 928, 1999), which has the trumpeter Enrico Rava among its soloists, and Deep Feelings (Evidence EVCD2030, recorded on January 26 to 28, 2000), all list Robert on trombone.

In Touch (ECM 1787) followed in 2002. Recorded in March 2001 at Piccolo Studios in Paris and produced by Manfred Eicher, it is a trio with Courtois on cello and Atef on drums; Robert wrote seven of the eight pieces and Atef one. L'Argent (Chief Inspector CHHE200605, 2006), recorded in August 2004, is a project Robert conceived around spoken words by a psychoanalyst, an economist, a financial analyst and Jean-Paul Curnier, with the singer Elise Caron, the bassist Jean-Philippe Morel, Atef and the electronics of Sylvain Thévenard. Inspirine (Chief Inspector CHPR200803, 2008), mixed in 2007, returns to a quartet of Robert, Courtois, Chevillon and Atef.

The trio of Robert, Chevillon and Atef then recorded for the Budapest Music Center. Inspired (BMC CD 228, 2015), billed to the Yves Robert Trio and recorded live at the BMC's Opus Jazz Club on February 15, 2014, has ten pieces, nine of them credited to Robert, and Captivate (BMC CD 269, 2019), recorded at the BMC Studio from June 21 to 23, 2018, has nineteen short pieces in which he adds electronics through Usine software to his trombone, Chevillon plays electric double bass with electronics and Atef adds electronics and voice. He also plays trombone on Hans Lüdemann's Polyjazz (BMC CD 246, 2018), recorded in November 2015. Among his most recent credits found are On the Edges 3 (BMC CD 320, 2023), the Transeuropeexpress album recorded in June 2022 with the pianist Rita Marcotulli and the accordionist Luciano Biondini and track 8 of Un Drame Musical Instantané's Tchak (Klanggalerie gg477, 2024).

No interview in which he names his influences was found, so this section keeps to what the records and the label descriptions show. His Discogs profile describes his projects as ranging from electronica and hip-hop flavoured jazz to contemporary improvisation, and the label Budapest Music Center, which issued two of his trio records, credits him with strong technique, a precise and dynamic tone and a free, spirited approach that mixes melody with playful textures. A review of In Touch on All About Jazz hears chamber music that moves between composed passages and open improvisation, with extended trombone effects (trembling, burbling, growling) over a sparse background; the same review finds the music quiet for long stretches and notes that his sidemen Courtois and Atef often steer it.

The records show how wide his settings are: unaccompanied trombone on Trombone Solo, an orchestra trombone section in the first Orchestre national de jazz, the collective improvisations of Company 91, text-driven projects such as L'Extrême ordinaire and L'Argent, and, on Captivate, a trio with live electronics. His titles lean on wordplay, from "Des satellites avec des traces de plumes" to "Le Magasin de Je".