Jazz singer, actor, and comedian Ian Shaw was born in St. Asaph, Wales on June 2, 1962. Shaw earned his music degree at the University of London. He began performing on the alternative cabaret circuit in the 1980s alongside future celebrities Julian Clary, Jo Brand, and Rory Bremner. Shaw also performed at piano bars and festivals all around. In 1990, he collaborated with vocalist Carol Grimes on the album Lazy Blue Eyes and toured Europe with her. That year, he was a regular at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, London. Shaw recorded three albums for the club’s inhouse label Jazz House: 1992’s Ghostsongs (with Adrian York), 1996’s Taking It to Hart and The Echo of a Song (1997). After taking his own ‘Very Big Band’ on tour in the UK, he began to perform in the U.S. on a regular basis. He released the 1999 album In a New York Minute (with Cedar Walton) and Soho Stories (2001) on the Milestone label. Shaw released A World Still Turning in 2003 featuring musical assistance from Billy Childs, Peter Washington, and Mark Murphy. Signing to Linn Records, Shaw released the albums Drawn to All Things: The Songs of Joni Mitchell (2006) and Lifejacket (2008), an album that featured his own compositions. His 2009 album, Somewhere Towards Love, was an intimately-recorded album that featured only voice and piano. Further albums included The Abbey Road Sessions (2011), A Ghost in Every Bar: The Lyrics of Fran Landesman (2012), The Theory of Joy (2016) and Shine Sister Shine (2018).
