In 1973, at the age of 21, Mover was a sideman for
Charles Mingus for a five-month period at New York City's 5 Spot Café. By 1975 Mover was working regularly in New York City jazz clubs with
Chet Baker, and he made his first European appearances with Baker at La Grande Parade du Jazz in (
Nice, France), Jazz Festival Laren (the Netherlands), and the Middelheim Jazz Festival (
Antwerp,
Belgium). In late 1975, Mover started leading his own groups around the New York area and made his first two albums as a leader in 1976 and 1977:
On the Move (Choice) and
Bob Mover (Vanguard). Weekly gigs at the Sweet Basil in Greenwich Village included
Tom Harrell,
Jimmy Garrison, Kenny Barron, Albert Dailey, Ben Riley, Mike Nock, and Ron McLure. In 1977, he was teaching; students included
Russ Gershon. Mover reunited with Chet Baker in 1981 for a European tour, playing in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, where they recorded
Chet Baker Live at Club Salt Peanuts Koln, Volumes 1 and 2 (Circle). Mover recorded two more albums as a leader in 1981 and 1982,
In the True Tradition and
Things Unseen, both issued by Xanadu. In 1983, he moved to Montreal and taught at
Concordia University (Quebec). Three years later he recorded his fifth album as leader,
The Nightbathers, with pianist
Paul Bley and guitarist
John Abercrombie, which was an experiment in
free improvisation. From 1987 to 1997, Mover lived in Toronto and toured Europe with pianists
Walter Davis Jr. and Tony Castillano. With
Don Thompson and
Archie Alleyne, he helped found the Toronto Jazz Quartet. He accepted a teaching position at
York University, giving saxophone master classes and teaching a course called "Musicianship for Jazz Singers". Mover released another album as leader called
You Go to My Head with Rufus Reid, Benny Green, Victor Lewis and Steve Hall. He released an album recorded in Montreal in 1997 called
Television (DSM) featuring John Hicks and Jake Wilkinson. ==Discography==