Bob Baldwin is coming to the Towne Crier to perform his upbeat contemporary jazz with touches of urban and Brazilian influences, influences he acquired as native New Yorker.
Bob 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.
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.
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.
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.
Tickets $30 advance/ 35 door