Trumpet
Ian Baldwin
As one of the founding members of the Joliet Blues Band Ian was an extremely important member who will be greatly missed. Sadly Ian passed away after a short illness at the beginning of 2018. The loss is still being felt by the rest of the band. In honour of our great friend, we shall not be replacing our trumpet player and will have friends dep for Ian so that he stays in our thoughts at every gig. The following biography was written by Ian with his usual wit and flair:
Ian started playing the trumpet at the tender age of seven. Then, four years later, he stopped playing. 29 years after that he started playing again. The rest is, literally, history! Music and performance always played a big part in Ian’s life and he was lucky enough to perform at the Albert Hall, write scores for several theatrical ventures, appear in two plays at the National Theatre, gain a first class degree in Performance Art and Media, stage an exhibition of his artwork, and perform regularly with local improvisation group ‘Off the Cuff’ to name but a few.
He played bass guitar for The Roll Band in the early nineties where he gained an appreciation and love for the brand of blues and soul music that litter the Blues Brothers catalogue. He also co-wrote and produced a Drum’n’Bass album which although critically acclaimed, remains an unearthed gem of the genre… (according to Ian anyway!).
Some things that you may not know about Ian are that he kissed not one but two Bond Girls!; He loved Japanese food; He was also ambidextrous… but on the other hand… perhaps not; When touring Russia with a theatre group in 1990, he and several friends challenged a group of Russians to a dance-off… only to find that they were all members of the Bolshoi Ballet – after a thorough and embarrassing trouncing it was vodka all round! Nostrovia!