Ian Duerr was born July 10, 1981, in Waupaca, Wisconsin into a musical family. His parents and grandparents are still active performers. Ian began on guitar and between the ages of 6 and 7 was playing rock in his mother’s band. In high school he played in a Jimi Hendrix cover band, Jimi being his first pro inspiration until he found jazz and Wes Montgomery.

Ian studied jazz guitar at Cardinal Stritch University in Wisconsin and Jazz Composition at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music where he began to learn some piano as well. In 2005 he got a job as the pianist in a trio hired by Carnival Cruise Lines. This lasted through 2008. In 2009 Ian made up mind to try New York. A first he stayed at Jazz On Lenox, a youth hostel in Harlem for $13 a night. Then it came to sleeping on friends’ floors. Finally, he hooked up with a trumpeter he had met on the scene and moved into the other’s Brooklyn apartment.

The rest is history