Bob Baldwin (musician)

Born 12/9/1960 - Mount Vernon, NY

New York native Bob Baldwin was taught to play the piano by his father Robert Baldwin Sr. With the help of his elder name sake, he discovered his ability of perfect pitch at the age of four. The elder Baldwin was a jazz pianist who worked with Art Davis, Keter Betts, Max Roach and others. The Jr. Bob Baldwin studied classical and jazz repertoire, but his intriguing harmonies were inspired by Oscar Peterson, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. While studying accounting, business and broadcasting in college, he never strayed far from his first love.

Baldwin never let that business acumen go to waste as he sold CD’s online as early as 1995. He's worked with the likes of Roy Ayers, Gerald Albright Dean James, Jeff Kashiwa, Dave Mann, Chieli Minucci, Phil Perry, Kim Waters, Will Downing, Marion Meadows, the late Grover Washington, Jr., Noel Pointer, Tito Puente alumnus Ray Vega and Tony Cintron, and Brazilian Percussionist Cafe' on previous recordings over the years.

Roberta Flack selected Baldwin as the 1989 Sony Innovators Award winner for his first album, The Dream Featuring Bob Baldwin (1998) on Malaco Jazz Records. This led to major label contract on the Atlantic Jazz label, where he birthed his second and third albums.

Rejoice (1990) and Reflections of Love (1992) were both released on Atlantic-Jazz labels and featured Grover, Marion Meadows, Will Downing, and the late Noel Pointer. The latter peaked at #7 on the Contemporary Jazz Chart in July 1992. Performances that year included The World Trade Center in New York City, The Comcast Cable Show in Detroit, and in Europe with vocalist Will Downing.

In 1994, he was without a record deal and began pursuing records independently. In 1994, he recorded State of Mind but was never able to release it. In 1996, he created a record that was only released on the internet titled, City Sketches, I/Welcome To the Games, a disc he dedicates to the Olympics, then being held in Atlanta, Ga.

Cool Breeze (1997) was next on his musical journey. Cool Breeze topped the Billboard charts that year, entering into Top20 status. In 2000, he independently produced his CD Bobbaldwin.com in 2000, which was distributed worldwide on Virgin/EMI. It peaked at #17 on the Billboard Contemporary Chart. This record features Gerald Albright, Marion Meadows, Armsted Christian, Dean James, Eric Essix and Tom Browne, to name a few. Baldwin's touch on "Funkin' For Jamaica" is world class as he dedicates that tune to the late Grover Washington, Jr., who was scheduled to perform on it before his untimely death.

Impacted tremendously from the World Trade Center bombings, Baldwin released two discs in 2002, his solo release Standing Tall and Bob Baldwin Presents The American Spirit.

That same year, Baldwin headed to South America to work with the likes of guitarist Torcuarto Mariano, saxophonist Leo Gandelman, percussionist Café Da-Silva, and long time Pat Metheny percussionist Armando Marcal as well as Ivan Conte and Alex Malheiros of the legendary Brazilian Fund group Azimuth. The end result is the CD, “Brazil Chill” (2004) recorded in Rio De Janeiro, which features other very talented Brazilian musicians. Using his newfound compadres, Baldwin’s 9th CD returns to the 70s-tinged Neo-jazz roots and creates an emotive 55 minutes of alluring originals. He continues his core career goals to innovate and bring new talent to the forefront.

His 10th CD, All In A Days Work (2005) and contains over an hour of a vibrant, yet refreshingly gratifying collection of jazzy, urban nuances.

Baldwin's production credits include Grover Washington, Jr. (Next Exit) and Marion Meadows (Keep It Right There). July, 1992 Baldwin’s Reflections of Love CD, was #7 on the Billboard charts while Washington and Meadows were at #2 and #5, respectively the same week.