Bios

THE TRIO

Jamaal Baptiste
Jamaal Baptiste is a pianist, composer, arranger, and ethnomusicologist. Born and raised in San Nicolas, Aruba, Baptiste began taking piano lessons at age eight and by age eleven was serving as a pianist for the Apostolic Pentecostal Church of Aruba in his hometown. Exposed to the island's diverse communities and musical expressions, he became comfortable performing in a wide range of musical settings with experience in Jazz, Blues, R&B, Gospel, Caribbean, Brazilian, and other Latin American musics.
In 2010, Baptiste relocated to the United States to attend Indiana University, where he studied with renowned music educator David Baker and pianist Luke Gillespie. In 2013, Baptiste was a jazz fellow at Ravina’s Steans Music Institute under the tutelage of Baker, Curtis Fuller, Nathan Davis, and Rufus Reid. Baptiste has been featured as a guest artist and clinician at various colleges, festivals, and clubs throughout the U.S., South Africa, Austria, and Aruba.

Baptiste has performed and recorded on albums ¡Funklorico! (2012) and Ritmos Unidos (2014) with Latin jazz group Ritmos Unidos, a collaboration with percussionist Michael Spiro. Other notable artists with whom he has played include Gary Bartz, Avery G. Sharpe, Ronnie Burrage, Greg Osby, Carol Sudhalter, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Wayne Wallace, Dave Stryker, Steve Houghton, Ed Saindon, Jamey Aebersold, and Rob Dixon.
In addition to Batuquê Trio, he is also a co-founder of the NelBap Duo with saxophonist/clarinetist Ana Nelson and a member of Carlos Bislip’s Aruban Jazz Collective.
Baptiste holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in Jazz Studies from the Jacobs School of Music, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Ethnomusicology from Indiana University.

Andy Smith
Musician, educator, and composer, Andy P. Smith is recognized internationally, having enjoyed a diverse career for over two decades. His most recent project is the CD recording, Finally Here with Angel Roman and Mambo Blue. Smith's recent compositions include: Vento no Ritmo (Wind in Rhythm) for flute trio with leg rattles commissioned by Deanna Hahn-Little; Fora da Caixa, an experimental graphic score for percussion trio; Two Maracatu for Drum-set Duo (a popular youtube video features Andy with drummer Marcus Finnie); and Brazilian Suite for Tambourines, premiered at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. 2017 will include new works for 10-Can Percussion and Caixa Trio.

Smith lives in El Paso, Texas, with his wife Amy Smith (Caixa Trio) and their children. He is the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso and previously taught as Adjunct Percussion Instructor at Middle Tennessee State University.

His career has taken him from the recording studios of Nashville, TN to Tanglewood, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl. He has traveled to Ghana West Africa and the Caribbean to be immersed in African diasporic rhythm. In 2012, Andy was awarded a Tinker Foundation grant to study contemporary Brazilian jazz drumming in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Other recent performances include the Jazz Education Network Convention, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Lotus Music Festival, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, and grant sponsored workshops with Bernard Woma, Musical Ambassador to Ghana.

Smith is published by Row-Loff Publications, and self-publishes his works for solo percussion with electronics, percussion and other chamber ensembles, and Latin-Jazz combo (andypsmith.squarespace.com). He has also contributed to Percussive Notes, a publication of the Percussive Arts Society. He is endorsed by Pearl/Adams Musical Instruments, Evans drumheads and Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets.

Natalie Boeyink
Natalie Boeyink, bassist, educator, and composer, was appointed Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2023. After completing her doctorate in music education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2015, Boeyink spent eight years as a Jazz Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the University of North Carolina system.

She holds a MM in Jazz Performance (University of Louisville), and a BM in Jazz Studies (Indiana University), where she studied with David Baker, Pat Harbison, and Argentinian composer, Gerardo Dirie. Her interest in the educational experiences and careers of jazzwomen has launched a series of research projects, conference presentations and publications, including her dissertation, "An Analysis and Description of Female Jazz Instrumentalists." An advocate for jazzwomen, Boeyink served as Chair of the Jazz Education Network’s Women in Jazz Committee and worked to reestablish the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo Competition. She also started the first North Carolina JazzGirls Day, partnering with jazzwomen across the state to inspire and mentor young women and girls interested in playing and singing jazz.

She has received grants to study the pedagogy of Brazilian popular music in Rio de Janeiro, Natal, Brasilia, and São Paulo (2014), to conduct research on the music of Northeastern Brazil in Recife, Olinda, and Salvador (2017), and an international fellowship to learn about community engagement during study abroad experiences in Costa Rica (2023).

Boeyink recently performed YES, MAHALIA! with vocalist Tammy McCann, and is on the upcoming release from Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds, Journeywoman. She also appears on Jerry Tolson's album JT & Friends: Black Sand Beach, and in the documentary In Her Hands – Key Changes in Jazz by Kay D. Ray.

Some of Boeyink’s notable performances include appearances with Jamie Baum, Ingrid Jensen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christine Jensen, Leni Stern, Almir Cortes, Jovino Santos Neto, Joe Piscopo, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Michael Mossman, Ralph Bowen, Jon Hendricks, Jeff Coffin, David Liebman, and Lorraine Feather.