NelBap Duo

$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 is also a member of Carlos Bislip’s Aruban Jazz Collective.

Ana Nelson is a clarinetist, saxophonist, and musical composer.  She is the recipient of the prestigious Presser Graduate Award from Indiana University, which supported the recording of her 2022 debut album, Bridges. The album charted on both the Roots Music Report and JazzWeek Top 100.  Nelson has performed with the Louisville Orchestra, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, Michael Spiro, and funk legend Bootsy Collins.  She has also appeared as a featured artist with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Cal Poly Symphony and University Jazz Band, and the IU New Music Ensemble. In 2020, she received the Earl Hines Outstanding Soloist Award, presented by Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Nelson holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University and currently teaches applied saxophone, jazz styles, and music appreciation at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She also serves on the applied music faculty at Cuesta College, co-founded the Virtual Woodwind Academy, and maintains an active private studio.