Robert Baldwin (born December 9, 1960) is an American contemporary jazz pianist, composer, music producer, author, radio host, and creator of the NewUrbanJazz Lounge and City Sketches Inc. His music is distributed by Sony Music.

Baldwin's debut album, A Long Way to Go, was released in 1988. All but seven discs in his solo recording catalog are owned by his label, City Sketches. Baldwin has won five SESAC Music Awards, 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.

Since 2018, he has charted on eight Billboard Smooth Jazz Top-10 hit records as either producer/arranger or composer. Baldwin completed 11 albums in January 2026, subtitled the Urban Jazz Music Series. His radio single "HEPnotic (Hep is the new Hip/100 years of Cool)", from his album BSpoke, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Radio Airplay chart on August 8, 2026.

Early life and education Baldwin grew up in a musical household in Westchester County, New York. His father, Robert Garfield Baldwin Sr. (1926–2008), was an engineer and jazz pianist who performed with musicians including Keter Betts, Art Davis, Carmen Leggio and Jimmy Hill. Baldwin began learning piano from his father at approximately four years old, receiving early instruction in both classical music and jazz standards.

Baldwin's broadcasting career began while attending Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where he studied business administration and broadcast communication. From 1979 to 1980, he hosted his first radio program on WGEV, the college's FM radio station, working as a jazz disc jockey. WGEV was an educational FM station owned by the Geneva College Board of Trustees.

Baldwin later returned to New York, where he continued developing his broadcasting experience. His early work at WGEV preceded his subsequent involvement in commercial radio and, later, the establishment of the syndicated *NewUrbanJazz Lounge* radio program. Career In September 1981, Baldwin secured a radio internship at Inner City Broadcasting (WLIB/WBLS) in New York City, then owned by Tuskegee Airman Percy Sutton. In 1981–1983, he worked briefly at WINS, where he pulled news wire for the staff writers. In 1984, he was a field news reporter in Westchester County for WVIP Radio, then located in Mount Kisco, New York.

In 1986, Baldwin performed briefly in Tom Browne's band at The Bottom Line in New York City, and in 1987, Browne asked Baldwin to participate on "No Longer I" for Browne on the short-lived Malaco Records Jazz Label.

Between March and September 1986, Baldwin, along with New York–based guitarist Al Orlo, created the Bob Baldwin/Al Orlo Project, and they performed on Sundays at the Crazy Horse, a small rock and roll club in New Rochelle, New York owned by Vincent Pastore.

In 1986, Baldwin and Orlo opened up for trumpeter Tom Browne at The Bottom Line, based in New York City. From that performance, Browne hired Baldwin to play in his band, and later collaborated with him on his disc No Longer I, a Gospel-Jazz recording in 1987. Through those sessions, he met Danny Weiss, the president of Malaco Jazz. In 1988, they co-produced Baldwin's first album, I've Got a Long Way to Go, released on Malaco Records. The project won the Sony Innovators Award in 1989, an annual award given to aspiring African-American artists who have shown outstanding talent in music and the visual arts, selected by Roberta Flack.

In 1990, Baldwin worked briefly with keyboardist Kashif. In 1989-1990, he was hired by Kashif to play demo parts; 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.The project was Executive Produced by Clive Davis. Per AllMusic, AllMusic’s Joi Cardwell biography states that producer Kashif recruited Cardwell for The Promise in 1989, that the group recorded an album, and that the album was never released.

With the help of Weiss and David Wilkes, along with producer Larry Maxwell, Baldwin secured his first artist solo deal with Atlantic Jazz, then presided by Sylvia Rhone. He produced 2 discs for in 1990 and 1992 (Rejoice and Reflections of Love). Reflections charted top-20 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts.

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.

Between 1998 and 2004, he wrote, sang and produced the CD101.9 jingle. In 2004, he was hired by Glenn Cherry, owner of Tama Broadcasting as the music director at WJSJ in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 2005, Baldwin assisted in launching Bermuda’s first smooth jazz radio station, KJAZ 98.1 FM, operated by LTT Broadcasting Co. Ltd. and led by broadcaster Leo Trott. In 2007 he served as music director at WCLK in Atlanta and later worked at WJZZ until its format change in 2009.

From 2007-2009, he was hired at WJZZ, a Radio-One company.

Baldwin launched NewUrbanJazz Lounge in October 2008. The program is a two-hour contemporary jazz show that has aired on terrestrial stations in the United States, including affiliates in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and later expanded to additional markets.

In 1997, Baldwin founded the music production company City Sketches, Inc. That year, he released his first independently produced album, Welcome to the Games, inspired by the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In 2000, he released BobBaldwin.com, using the name of his website as the album title as part of an early effort to integrate his music and online presence.

During the 2000s, several of Baldwin's albums appeared on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, including BobBaldwin.com (2000), Standing Tall (2002), Brazil Chill (2004), NewUrbanJazz.com (2008), Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson (2010), NewUrbanJazz.com2: Re-Vibe (2011), Betcha by Golly Wow/The Music of Thom Bell (2012), Twenty (2013), The Brazilian-American Soundtrack (2016), and Bob Baldwin Presents Abbey Road and the Beatles (2018).

Baldwin recorded two albums, Brazil Chill (2004) and All in a Day's Work (2005), in association with the Chicago-based A440 Music Group. City Sketches subsequently reacquired the rights to the recordings following the label's closure.

In 2009, City Sketches entered into an arrangement with the UK-based Trippin' 'n Rhythm Records. Baldwin subsequently released Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson in 2010 and NewUrbanJazz.com2: Re-Vibe in 2011 through the label.

Baldwin released Twenty, his 20th album, in 2013 through Distribution 13/Lillian Industries. City Sketches later filed a lawsuit concerning distribution royalties arising from the agreement; the dispute was subsequently settled out of court.

In 2015, City Sketches entered into a distribution arrangement with Red River Entertainment for physical releases from Baldwin's catalog. The label's digital catalog has also been distributed through The Orchard, a music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

In 2018, City Sketches acquired the rights to two earlier Baldwin recordings previously associated with Shanachie Records, Cool Breeze (1997) and Bob Baldwin Presents the American Spirit (2002).

In 2024, City Sketches released two Baldwin albums, Songs My Father Would Dig and It's Okay to Dream, both on June 28. Songs My Father Would Dig was presented as a mainstream jazz project, while It's Okay to Dream continued Baldwin's contemporary jazz work.

City Sketches later released a series of 11 recordings under the Smooth Jazz Architects name, with individual projects centered on cities including New York, Philadelphia, Dayton, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Asheville, Nashville, London and New Orleans.

Other activities Baldwin has also been involved in music event planning and has curated jazz concert series in partnership with municipalities including Greenburgh, White Plains, Asbury Park, Riviera Beach, and Mount Vernon. In 2006, he was announced as an endorser of Baldwin Piano, which was then owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

In 2009, Baldwin authored You Better Ask Somebody, a book drawing on his experiences in the music business and addressing the professional and business aspects of the recording industry.

Discography (albums)