Balaban resided as an adult in the Florida panhandle, where he worked as a farmer and played in regional ensembles from the 1950s.
He held a regular gig from 1966 at the Dixieland jazz club Your Father's Mustache in New York City.
He worked extensively as a sideman, for musicians such as Wild Bill Davison, Eddie Condon, Gene Krupa, Dick Wellstood, and Kenny Davern.
Other noted musicians in this outfit included Vic Dickenson, Warren Vache, and Connie Kay.
He was living with his wife of 62 years, Maxine (known as Micki), at their lakefront home in West Haven, Connecticut.