Bob Baldwin (musician)

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Bob Baldwin
Bob Baldwin at Ponce City Market, Atlanta, GA
Background information
Birth name	Robert Baldwin
Born	(1960-12-09) December 9, 1960 (age 63) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, urban
Occupation(s)	Musician, Arranger, Producer, Radio Host, Inventor
Instrument(s)	Piano, Keyboards
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Atlantic, 215, Shanachie, Malaco, CSI, Narada, Nu Groove, Peak, Trippin' N' Rhythm, Orpheus, A440, Distribution 13, BFE, City Sketches Records
Website	www.bobbaldwin.com

Bob (Robert) Baldwin (born December 9, 1960) is an American, New York–born contemporary jazz pianist, music composer, music producer, author, inventor, radio host, and creator of the NewUrbanJazz Lounge and City Sketches Inc. His views on owning his own recorded masters have been referred to as ‘the Ray Charles of contemporary jazz and soul music’ by his peers. As of January 1, 2023, he owns all but 7 of his 33+ studio projects.

His album "The Stay At Home Series, Vol. 1" was selected in 2022 as the best contemporary jazz album by the inaugural Jazz Music Awards program. From 2018-present, he has charted on 8 Billboard Smooth Jazz Top-10 hit records as either producer/arranger or composer for Flutist Ragan Whiteside (Randis Records). He's also on the 'notable' people' list for the city of Mt. Vernon, NY, along with Denzel Washington, Rudy Hackett, The McCray Brothers, Floyd Patterson, Nina Simone, Art Carney, Al B. Sure!, Dick Clark, among others.

Baldwin learned music from his late father (Robert Baldwin, Sr.) when he was six and began his recording career in 1983. His debut album, A Long Way to Go, was released in 1988, with his latest (and 33rd) release entitled The Stay-At-Home Series. All but seven discs in his solo recording catalog are owned by his label, City Sketches, Inc. Baldwin cites his father as his first, and biggest, musical influence and mentions that he was found to have perfect pitch around the age of six, something discovered by his father.

He has released more musical full-album recordings as a lead solo artist than any other Mt. Vernon, NY-native or Westchester-born musician, numbering over 33 recordings since 1988.

Baldwin has earned five SESAC Music Awards^[1] for his 2002–2003 airplay of "The Way She Looked at Me", his 2008 airplay on NewUrbanJazz.com, his 2010 album, Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson, in 2011 for NewUrbanJazz.com2/Re-Vibe, and his 2013 album Twenty. His 2015 release, MelloWonder: Songs in the Key of Stevie, which honors Stevie Wonder, debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard Overall Jazz Chart.^[2]

He has also written and/or arranged for Regina Carter, The Four Tops, Grover Washington, Jr., Paul Brown, Richard Elliot, Marion Meadows, Ragan Whiteside, Tom Browne, Bob James, Will Downing, Freddie Jackson, Rhonda Smith, Dee Brown, James "Crab" Robinson, Paul Brown, Joey Sommerville, Vaneese Thomas, Tiffany Bynoe, Howard Hewitt, Whistle, Michael Urbaniak, the Lisa ("Left-Eye") Lopez'-produced girl group Blacque, Steve Oliver, Mel Holder, Dee Brown, Dee Lucas, Canadian trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach and Pieces of a Dream.

In 1982, Baldwin was introduced to the digital recording process called MIDI, which he used on a PC desktop. It was given to him from longtime friend and engineer Wayne Warnecke The software program was created by Roger Powell called Texture, which Warnecke obtained from pianist Bob James in a studio in White Plains at Minot Sound Studios. He began to write, produce, and arrange music through MIDI, which was also the basis for how he first built his recording catalogue. He was also able to observe James use the process in the studio.

In 1986, Baldwin performed briefly in Tom Browne's band, and in 1987, Browne asked Baldwin to participate on "No Longer I" for Browne on the short-lived Malaco Records Jazz Label. This gospel-jazz genre of music was only preceded by the group's Koinonia and the A&M group Seawind in the history of gospel-jazz, and Baldwin performed on, co-produced and co-arranged the disc for Browne.

In 2000, he co-wrote and co-produced two songs on Will Downing's All the Man You Need album, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000 (Best Traditional R&B Album). He has also contributed as composer, co-producer and performer on Ragan Whiteside's Treblemaker, which charted over seven top-40 Billboard Contemporary Jazz radio singles.

Featured artists on his own solo recordings since 1988 include; Eric Essix, Kim Waters, Gerald Albright, Phil Perry, Fred Vigdor, Atlantic Starr original members Sharon Bryant and Porter Carroll, Jr., Noel Pointer, Lenny White, Larry Coryell, Dean James, Jeff Kashiwa, Chieli Minucci, Chuck Loeb, Edson Da Silva, Leo Gandelman, Lil' John Roberts (drummer), James Robinson, Rohn Lawrence, Darren Rahn, Russ Freeman (Rippingtons), Dennis Johnson, Barry Danielian, Poogie Bell, Euge Groove, CeCe Peniston, Najee, U-Nam, Steve Oliver, Toni Redd, Nils Jiptner, Marcus Anderson, Walter Beasley, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Fred Vigdor (AWB), Vivian Green, Brooke Alford, Torquato Mariano, Azymuth members Ivan Conte and Alex Malheiros, and Armando Marcel, as well as the aforementioned Sommerville, Robinson, Washington, Jr., Brown, Meadows, Whiteside, Downing, Browne, Thomas, and Jackson.

Bob has shared the stage with: Kirk Whalum, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Gerald Veasley, Phil Perry, Ken Ford, Regina Carter, Alyson Williams, Buddy Williams, Marion Meadows, Chuck Loeb, Gerald Albright, Lalah Hathaway, Edson Silva, Maysa Leak, Nick Colionne, Warren Hill, Jonathan Butler, Rick Braun, Peter White, Paul Brown, Eric Darius and Adam Hawley, to name a few.

Baldwin grew up in a musical environment. His father, Robert Baldwin, Sr., (1926-2008) was a full-time Engineer, and a part-time pianist who worked local clubs throughout Westchester County, NY, just north of New York City. While his father was a fan of jazz icons like Miles Davis, Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, his older sister, Deborah, was a fan of soul music of the 1960s, including music by Motown, Stax record labels. These early musical experiences profoundly impacted Baldwin's musical path. He is also a fan of his elder cousin, jazz pianist Larry Willis, who played with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band.

In 1987, Sony founded the Sony Innovator's Awards, an annual ceremony to award aspiring Afro-American artists who have shown outstanding talent in music and the visual arts. In his opening speech at the first ceremony held in 1988, music producer Quincy Jones stated that it was encouraging that a large firm like Sony was providing Afro-American artists a chance to be introduced to the entire nation. Baldwin was awarded the Sony Innovators Award in 1989,^[3] selected by Roberta Flack.^[4]

At age 20, in 1980, he met his first cousin, Pianist Larry Willis, who played in the original version of the pop group Blood, Sweat and Tears. They reunited at the funeral of Baldwin's grandfather, Percy Willis in Norfolk, Va. They played at the elder Willis funeral, and a musical bond was created. Baldwin and Willis later played at the Savannah Jazz Festival in 2008, both opening for headliner pianist Bob James. They maintained a musical and family bond since 1990.

Out of necessity to maintain creative control, he independently learned how to record music from engineers Wayne Warnecke in White Plains and Mamaroneck, NY, and Keyboardist/Engineer Dennis Johnson in Yonkers, NY. In 1990, Baldwin worked briefly with producer/arranger/keyboardist Kashif, where he learned about the ‘wall of sound’ vocal panning technique. In 1989 -1990, he was hired by Kashif to play keyboards and piano on a recording project by a new group called The Promise (Arista Records) featuring vocalist Joi Cardwell, but the project was never released.