Born in Scotland, Ian has for some long time been a significant member of the jazz community in Canada. He has built a substantial following in the Toronto area, which has been his home for over forty years, and although quite active as a performer working with local and visiting artists, who have included Jim Galloway, Buddy Tate, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Warren Vache, "Spanky" Davis, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, he has been somewhat shy about going into the recording studio. In 1994 he was finally convinced to record a solo session at the CJRT-FM studio, the results of which can be found on Sackville Records "Only Trust your Heart" (SKCD2-2053).