$10 Cover | 6:30pm | Jamaal Baptiste is a pianist, composer, arranger, and ethnomusicologist. He holds a BM and MM in jazz studies from the Indiana University (IU) Jacobs School of Music as well as an MA and Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from IU. Baptiste is also the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Baptiste has collaborated with esteemed practitioners of Caribbean and Latin American popular music in the United States and contributed to several albums by Grammy nominated artists Michael Spiro and Wayne Wallace. Notably, he recorded on their album Canto América (2017), which was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album. Other notable artists with whom Baptiste has performed 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. Baptiste is an original member of the Batuquê Trio with drummer Andy Smith and bassist Natalie Boeyink. With this trio, he recorded the album Transparency (2015). 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.