Bob Baldwin is an American Pianist/Composer/Arranger/Radio Host/Inventor. The Mt. Vernon, NY native has recorded on six of the seven inhabitable continents, and while Antarctica is not on his recording bucket list, his short international list, including Dubai, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, UK, Canada, is quite impressive. "Whether it's a massive festival crowd of 30,000 or an intimate restaurant audience of less than 60, I refuse to rob my audience of great music, top-notch effort and a good personal experience", says Baldwin.
He’s been coined by industry peers as the “Ray Charles of Contemporary Jazz”, having owned all but seven of his 34 solo recordings. He claims that ownership has helped to sustain him throughout the current pandemic era.
His Radio program, NewUrbanJazz, established in 2008, celebrated its’ 700th consecutive weekly radio program on February 28, 2022.
The pianist's personal goal is to release a 12-song project per year, and since 1988, he has released over 34 projects, of which 27 are owned by his company, City Sketches Records (distributed by The Orchard/Sony Music). Discs #35 and 36 are in the works.
Bob’s current live disc, “The Stay at Home Series” marks an industry adjustment. Recorded in 2020-2021, this is a closed live recording in the studio with some of his New York musical compadres. With Cafe Da Silva and Chembo Corniel on percussion, and his longtime music friends Tony Lewis and Dave Anderson on drums and bass, the new project will spit out a Volume 2 in the near future.
“Being a musician, we obviously had to make adjustments to the way we all do music,” says the Native New Yorker. “Concerts were eliminated in 2020, but fortunately, owning your own music makes you halfway covid-proof, and live streaming was the new normal”.
His current 2021 release, "The UrbanSmooth Suite" was a vocal extravaganza with various vocalists Monica Mason, Regina Troupe, Toni Redd and others as well as Earth, Wind and Fire original Ralph Johnson on drum on the uptempo "Dance 3000”.
His 2020 piece, “Henna” explored a more natural sound with the aforementioned Da’ Silva from Brazil, Anderson and Lewis, but his 12-solo piece with Nils, Beasley, Alford, Whiteside and company on “Club Life” was the record highlight as well as the late Rohn Lawrence on Guitar.
His 'theme' projects of Stevie Wonder (MelloWonder/Songs in the Key of Stevie), Thom Bell (Betcha By Golly Wow), and Michael Jackson (Never Can Say Goodbye) have all charted mightily on the Billboard Jazz charts, all hitting in the top 15. His very latest, Abbey Road and the Beatles has also crept into the top 20 on the charts as well.
Never Can Say Goodbye and Never out of Season were both remixed and remastered in the spirit of hi-def (2018). Whereas older recordings would peak at the average 16-bit maximum, Bob is trying to push the envelope in re-tracking some of the music in 24-bit (and sometimes 32-bit mode).
The Brazilian-American Soundtrack (2016) was a disc recorded in Brazil with a magical journey through Rio, Ipanema Beach, Atlanta and New York City and showcases original music, plus music from legendary writers and artists like Djavan, Ivan Lins and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
What's next? Well...funny you should ask. Bob Baldwin is re-writing and updating his book, “You Better Ask Somebody”, and will go in a little deeper on subjects like music streaming and the lowdown on Croton Jazz.