Dino Baptiste

Dino Baptiste

Dino Baptiste is a London-born keyboard player, singer and entertainer based in Birmingham, England. He works in blues, boogie-woogie and rock and roll piano, and performs both as a solo act and with his own band. His live style combines strong left-hand piano playing, a dynamic vocal approach and an improvisatory, jam-based feel.

Background and style

Baptiste develops a performance style shaped by blues and rock and roll piano traditions. He cites Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles as key influences, and his Anglo-Indian parents help lead him towards rock and roll and the music of the 1960s and 1970s. His work is marked by showmanship, humour and a flexible approach rather than a fixed set format.

Career

He has more than 15 years of professional experience in live and recording work. He performs with his own band and, from 2002, focuses on a duo format featuring keyboards and drums, built around his left-hand piano style. He also serves a self-created apprenticeship through a career that includes a four-year period in Melbourne, Australia from 1989, where he tours, performs and records with a range of musicians.

Since 2001, he also develops a “duelling pianos” production for Disney Cruise Line in Florida. In the UK and internationally, he works with artists including Lulu, Dana Gillespie, Rolf Harris, Bernie Marsden, Leo Sayer, Mungo Jerry and The Blues Band.