Andy P. Smith is known for the depth of his “pocket” as a performer, his uncanny versatility as a pedagogue, and his wit and creativity as a composer. His recent projects include CD recordings, Finally Here and Festive Interplay with Angel Roman and Mambo Blue, Deliberations by Erik Unsworth, and Latin Jazz group Batuquê Trio’s Transparency and sophomore 2022 recording pending release. Smith’s career has taken him from the recording studios of Nashville, TN to Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl. In 2012, Andy was awarded a Tinker Foundation grant to study contemporary Brazilian Samba-Jazz drumming in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Andy has been a repeat clinician at the Jazz Education Network Convention and performed for the inaugural David Baker Guest Artist Series Concert at The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Other perfor- mances include the Lotus Music Festival, Ciudad Juarez International Jazz Festival, and grant sponsored workshops with Bernard Woma, Ghanaian Musical Ambassador. Andy’s compositions include 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. Andy’s work Vento no Ritmo (‘Wind in Rhythm’), now a sextet for flutes and percussion, was released in 2019 on the CD, Inspirations from Tennessee “The Dolly Project,” by Deanna Little, and featured in a collaborative performance at the National Flute Convention in the same year.

Andy taught at Middle Tennessee State University from 1999-2008, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, a state sponsored program for elite college-bound musicians, from 2004-2017. Andy is Director of Percussion Studies at The University of Texas at El Paso. Smith directs all aspects of percussion at the Department of Music with a philosophy emphasizing professionalism and depth of musicianship. His Doctor- ate is from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN where he served as an Associate Instructor and Assistant Director to Michael Spiro's Brazilian Percussion Ensemble.

Contributions to PAS include numerous PASIC invited and featured performances, adjudication, directing MTSU and UTEP ensembles in competition, serving as past Vice President of the Tennessee Chapter, and currently serving on the University Pedagogy Committee. He is endorsed by Pearl/Adams, Evans Drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Innovative Percussion.