Nedbalsky-McNulty Wedding 

"Ian's guitar-violin duo created the perfect atmosphere for our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour.  We really wanted our wedding to reflect who we were as a couple, and since music has always been a big part of our relationship - we were able to achieve this through working with Ian.  Walking down the aisle to one of my favorite songs played with an acoustic twist as performed by Ian's duo made my entrance that much more memorable.  During cocktail hour, our guests really enjoyed both listening to and watching the performance and my husband and I loved hearing some of our favorite songs from different stages of our lives together played acoustically.  It was like a musical road map of our relationship leading us to that joyful day.  It truly was the best day of our lives and we can't thank Ian enough!"

C. Nedbalsky

Tamara Mitchel's Cocktail party 

"Ian Duerr played jazz and blues piano beautifully and elegantly in our home to celebrate a wedding anniversary.   His playing made a special event inestimably more special - even playing a particular requested blues song he hadn't known before with perfect aplomb and style.  I recommend him most highly for any event."

T. Mitchel


Christie wedding

"We first heard the Ian Duerr quartet in Central Park on a warm summer afternoon. They are one of those gems that one can only find in a a city like New York. After listening to them we quickly decided that they would be the perfect jazz ensemble to play at our son"s wedding reception at The Water Club in August 2013 AND they were! We couldn't have been happier with our decision-- they are consummate musicians and many of our friends complimented us on the fabulous musicians we had playing that night. These friends were surprised to find that we had found the Ian Duerr Band while wandering in Central Park. We highly recommend them for any cocktail party or wedding."

T. Christie

Figueroa wedding

"The Ian Duerr quartet gave our wedding reception a special touch. Elegantly dressed and beautifully performed, they accommodated all our wishes of specially selected songs and even had the bass player double vocally for a few numbers. I can highly recommend him and his group for any upscale event."

- D Figueroa


Goddard wedding 

"Ian and his band were a wonderful addition to our wedding in Central Park. As a couple coming from the UK over to NYC to get married we approached Ian at the eleventh hour after seeing him play with his band. Ian was incredibly accommodating, reliable and his band professionally turned out (even coming out in the rain to play for us!). The guests loved his music and he really did contribute to making our day even more special. We would recommend Ian without hesitation"

S. Goddard

Rodriguez wedding 

"A classy and sophisticated group that I would highly recommend.  Ian Duerr was such an appropriate pick to play at the cocktail hour of my wedding. My guests and I greatly enjoyed their music as well as their unique and innovative style of jazz.  The classics were also played beautifully."

- C Rodriguez

Nedbalsky and Silas-Neal wedding 

 "Ian, THANK YOU!!!!"

"Your music moved us to tears on Saturday. It was the most beautiful soundtrack for the day - Although Chris and I were walking around talking to   people and taking pictures we were able to stop and listen. The moment you played the Shins was surreal. I can't even describe how much we loved your music. "Hey Jude", "All You Need Is Love" & "And I Love Her" were just excruciatingly beautiful.   I will definitely get the check in the mail to you before we leave on Wednesday.  Thank YOU so much. As soon as my photographer gets her pictures back, I will send the ones of you to her - and I will be posting love notes all over the internet - telling other brides that they need to work with you."

"Thank you Ian and Josh!!"
 
- J Nedbalsky

Dominguez - Mahoney Wedding  

 "Ian Made our wedding reception so romantic and classy with his live jazz quartet!  I would recommend his group for any other wedding reception/ceremony.    He played all of the requests which we discussed prior to the date, was punctual, professional, and always with smile!  The music was priceless! "

- J Dominguez

Booth - Smith wedding  

"Ian Duerr played at our wedding in December of 2009.  The trio was wonderful.  They played for our ceremony as well as cocktail hour. We did have complaints that they did not play long enough.  :)  I highly recommend Ian for any ceremonies or events.  If we had a big enough apartment we would have him come back for our holiday party this year." 

- T Booth

Ira Gitler
For "Jazz Times Magazine"


    "From time to time I have used the phrase “jazz is where you find it” (I think it popped up in my brain as a vague remembering the title of a Michael Curtiz 1938 movie, Gold Is Where You Find It. Well this time I found jazz in Central Park.
   
    In the last ten years, when I have gone to the park to get the sun, I heard an alto saxophonist playing solo in the tunnel that leads on to the ball fields behind the Metro- politan Museum of Art. Mostly he played standards without a modicum of improvisation but was proficient. I haven’t heard him in the last couple of years but this August there was an upgrade in the form of a combo set up along a path in from 5th Avenue below a side of the Met before you would hit that tunnel.
   
    I actually heard them before I saw them. The sound of a tenor saxophone wafted up to where my wife and I were sitting by the side of the Met. The tenor man sounded very fluid and clear-toned. I said so and she suggested I go down and check them out in person. I waited until the next day. A trumpeter had replaced the tenor; the rest of the group consisted of bass, drums and guitar. After several numbers the guitarist made the rounds of people occupying the neighboring benches, trying to sell some CDs or simply asking for monetary support. There was a receptacle on the walkway in front of the band and while they were playing, people who had stopped to listen dropped dollar bills or change into it. Often, people just passing through contributed on the fly.
   
    During the break after the first set the guitarist, who is the organizer, got to me on his rounds and I asked him to sit down and introduced myself. He was a bit incredulous when I gave him my name and perhaps even more so when I said that I wanted to write about the band in my column. I got his e-mail address and began the process.

    Ian Duerr (pronounced dure, but he is a do-er) 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.
   
    In March of 2009 Duerr got a job telemarketing for Jazz at Lincoln Center and began jamming at the Fat Cat, Smalls and Cleopatra’s Needle, on piano. He put a group together that rehearsed at off hours at Fat Cat. Then one of the musicians hipped him to playing in the park and in June ’09 he began the arboreal gig, this time with his mellow, thoughtful, swinging guitar. I’ve heard Ian and his men a number of times since our first meeting. The personnel shifts from time to time but the regulars seem to be drummer Adam Miller, bassist Brian Vinson from Louisville, Kentucky and trumpeter Alex Berti Jr, from Caracas, Venezuela. I still haven’t heard Frasier Campbell, the tenorist from Scotland on tenor since that first time. Recently he showed up with a borrowed soprano (his tenor was in the repair shop) that I wouldn’t wish on Kenny G."      
   
I. Gitler