Cynthia Robinson: Sly and the Family Stone trumpeter, who took Woodstock by storm in 1969

At Woodstock, the double whammy of "Dance To The Music" and "I Want To Take You Higher" turned the band into superstars

Cynthia Robinson on stage in New York in 2011 (Corbis)

The trumpeter Cynthia Robinson was a founder member of Sly and the Family Stone, the pioneering and flamboyant San Francisco septet whose integrated line-up matched the kaleidoscopic blend of soul, funk, pop and psychedelia that exhorted the world to "Dance To The Music" in 1968.

The following year she appeared with the group on the second night of the Woodstock Festival, between Janis Joplin and The Who, when they performed the infectious, irresistible Transatlantic hits "M'Lady", "Everyday People" and, most famously, their rallying call "I Want To Take You Higher". Included in Michael Wadleigh's oddly compelling, rambling documentary of the event, the double whammy of "Dance To The Music" and "I Want To Take You Higher" turned them into superstars.

In 1971 they topped the US charts again with the slinky "Family Affair", an apt summary of the way they had come together six years earlier, and the epochal collection whence it came, There's A Riot Goin' On. A mainstay of a notably fractious band, Robinson lasted the distance and made sterling contributions to their seven albums, including the best-selling Stand! (1969) and Fresh (1973), and the sizzling singles "Hot Fun In The Summertime'', "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" – covered by Magazine in 1979 – "Runnin' Away" and "If You Want Me To Stay".

A Sacramento native, she grew up listening to her mother's rhythm and blues 78s and daydreamed about stepping away from the marching band and behind the music stands. Indeed, it was her mother who first helped her connect with Sly Stone – né Stewart – the DJ and multi-instrumentalist who became the outfit's creative force and frontman.

Only 20 in 1966, she joined the Stoners, and then the renamed group that paid no heed to colour or gender, a unique proposition at the time, as was her decision to play the trumpet, an instrument that seemed a male preserve. Miles Davis admired her braveness and complimented her on her richness of her tone. Sly and the Family Stone also featured two of Sly's siblings, guitarist and singer Freddie Stone, keyboard-player Rose Stone, as well as Robinson's cousin, bassist Larry Graham, drummer Gregg Errico and saxophonist Jerry Martini.

Not content with blowing up a storm, Robinson also sang and ad-libbed commands in the "hype man" tradition that prefigured rap and echoed all the way down to the 1992 adaptation of "Everyday People" by the Atlanta hip-hop collective Arrested Development. Despite his unravelling, drug-fuelled lifestyle, she remained loyal to Sly Stone, who fathered Sylvette, one of her two daughters, and contributed to his subsequent recordings.

She also played with Graham Central Station, George Clinton and Prince and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with her band-mates, in 1993. She died of cancer.

Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter: born Sacramento, 12 January 1944; two daughters; died 23 November 2015.