Jamaal Baptiste is a pianist, composer, arranger and ethnomusicologist. Born and raised in San Nicolas, Aruba, he began taking piano lessons at age eight. 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 music.

In 2010, Baptiste relocated to the U.S. to attend Indiana University, where he studied with renowned music educators David Baker, Pat Harbison and pianist Luke Gillespie. In 2013, Baptiste was a jazz fellow at Ravinia’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., as well as Aruba, Austria and South Africa.

Baptiste has collaborated with esteemed practitioners of Caribbean and Latin American popular music in the U.S. and contributed to several albums by Grammy Award-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 cofounder of the NelBap Duo with saxophonist/clarinetist Ana Nelson and a member of Carlos Bislip’s Aruban Jazz Collective.

Baptiste holds a Master of Arts in ethnomusicology, a Master of Music in jazz studies and a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from Indiana University.