Bob Baldwin

Pianist Bob Baldwin first gained notice in the 1990s through a string of contemporary jazz releases. Among them were the smooth outings For You in 1994, Standing Tall in 2002, and Twenty in 2013, the last of which climbed to number three on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Although original jazz remains his central pursuit, Baldwin has also revealed a fondness for pop and R&B material on projects such as the 2010 album Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson and MelloWonder: Songs in the Key of Stevie.

He was born in 1960 in Mount Vernon, New York, where his father, bassist and pianist Robert Baldwin, Sr., gave him his first piano lessons around age four. During his teenage years he immersed himself in jazz and R&B. After graduating from Geneva College with a business degree, he briefly worked as an accountant while continuing to hone his musical abilities; by the 1980s he had shifted to a full-time performing and recording career.

Baldwin launched his solo discography in 1990 with A Long Way to Go, an album that earned him the Sony Innovator in Music Award. That recognition helped launch a productive sequence of recordings that included 1992’s Reflections of Love and 1997’s Cool Breeze. He simultaneously built a reputation as a sought-after sideman, appearing with artists such as Marion Meadows, Regina Carter, Will Downing, and Pieces of a Dream.

Throughout the early 2000s he maintained a steady release schedule, with several titles—BobBaldwin.com in 2000, Standing Tall in 2002, All in a Day’s Work in 2005, NewUrbanJazz.com in 2008, and Lookin’ Back in 2009—reaching the Top 20 on Billboard’s Jazz charts.

In 2010 he reinterpreted the King of Pop’s catalog on Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson. NewUrbanJazz.com2: Re-Vibe followed the next year. Baldwin offered another soul-oriented homage with Betcha by Golly Wow: The Songs of Thom Bell in 2012.

Marking two decades as a recording artist, he issued Twenty in 2013. The Stevie Wonder tribute MelloWonder: Songs in the Key of Stevie arrived in 2015. Two years later, on The Brazilian-American Soundtrack, Baldwin turned his attention to bossa nova and the works of Brazilian artists including Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and Sergio Mendes. He next brought his polished approach to the songs of Paul McCartney and John Lennon on 2018’s Bob Baldwin Presents Abbey Road and the Beatles.