Alyssa Smith Trio

Alyssa Smith is a musician, composer, and educator from Madison, Wisconsin. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation from the University of Michigan, and has her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Alyssa performs as a soloist and collaborator in settings such as the Blue Llama jazz club, the Detroit Club, the Honeywell Arts Academy, and Madison’s own beloved jazz club Cafe Coda. As an educator, she runs a studio of over thirty private jazz and classical piano students at Oz’s Music. Her group the Alyssa Smith Trio primarily presents Alyssa’s originals, which aim to capture the unspoken human experiences we all share through music in a light-hearted yet unapologetically genuine way.

Ben Powell was born in 1998 and grew up in Kennett Square Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He comes from a musical family who nurtured a love and passion for music from an early age. In the fall of 2019, Ben made his professional debut as Davy Zlatic in the First National Broadway Tour of the musical Bandstand. He is currently completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan pursuing a BFA in Jazz Studies on acoustic and electric bass and a BMA in Vocal Performance as a bass-baritone.

Henry Ptacek is a drummer based in Madison, Wisconsin. He has studied with Vincent Davis, Ari Hoening, Peter Dominguez, Devin Drobka, Matt Endres and others. He’s had the opportunity to perform with Reggie Workman, Dafnis Prieto, Eddie Barbash and Helen Sung. Henry has been active in the Madison music community playing with many groups and hosted a jam session at Cafe Coda for 2 years.