"Born and raised in North Carolina, Andy Kleindienst is a professional trombonist and electric bassist specializing in jazz, classical, and Latin American musical styles. He holds a Master of Music in jazz performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His primary trombone teachers have included Conrad Herwig, Mike Kris, and Mitch Butler. He has also studied with Ralph Bowen, Jim Ketch, Bill O’Connell, Stephen Anderson, and Kenny Davis.
Since 2005, Andy has contributed to the vibrant and growing music scene in central North Carolina as an active performer, educator, and composer/arranger. From 2007-2013 Andy was the co-director for Orquesta GarDel and in 2011 the band released the Triangle’s first album of original timba music entitled Lo Que Tu Querias. As a member of the John Brown Jazz Big Band, Andy has had the opportunity to play with many local and international jazz artists including Terrance Blanchard and Jon Faddis and can be heard on the band’s 2013 album Christmas with Nnenna Freelon. Having eclectic musical tastes, Andy can be heard on more than a dozen other albums from hip-hop groups like The Beast and Zo! to Americana and folk groups like Lizzy Ross Band and The Gravy Boys to world music groups like Tim Smith Band. In 2014 he performed Andrea Clearfield’s composition The Long Bright with the Women’s Voices Chorus at Hill Hall Auditorium. Since 2009 he has been the bassist for the Guillo Carias Trio, which focuses on the American Songbook as well as the traditional Dominican musical canon. In 2011 he toured nationally with the Michael Jackson tribute band Who’s Bad. He has also had the opportunity to play with Aretha Franklin, Franki Valli, The Temptations, and Tito Gomez.
As an educator, Andy has taught dozens of brass students over the past ten years, given masterclasses and clinics at high school and middle schools across the Triangle, and has been a lecturer at UNC Chapel Hill (Charanga Carolina, 2011) and Rutgers University (“Survey of Jazz Styles”, Jazz Chamber Ensemble Director, 2014). Andy has also toured North Carolina with the John Brown Little Big Band as a part of the cARTwheels educational program sponsored by the NC Arts Council.
Andy currently lives in Rougemont, NC where he is an occasional farmer on his sister and brother-in-law’s farm."
Since 2005, Andy has contributed to the vibrant and growing music scene in central North Carolina as an active performer, educator, and composer/arranger. From 2007-2013 Andy was the co-director for Orquesta GarDel and in 2011 the band released the Triangle’s first album of original timba music entitled Lo Que Tu Querias. As a member of the John Brown Jazz Big Band, Andy has had the opportunity to play with many local and international jazz artists including Terrance Blanchard and Jon Faddis and can be heard on the band’s 2013 album Christmas with Nnenna Freelon. Having eclectic musical tastes, Andy can be heard on more than a dozen other albums from hip-hop groups like The Beast and Zo! to Americana and folk groups like Lizzy Ross Band and The Gravy Boys to world music groups like Tim Smith Band. In 2014 he performed Andrea Clearfield’s composition The Long Bright with the Women’s Voices Chorus at Hill Hall Auditorium. Since 2009 he has been the bassist for the Guillo Carias Trio, which focuses on the American Songbook as well as the traditional Dominican musical canon. In 2011 he toured nationally with the Michael Jackson tribute band Who’s Bad. He has also had the opportunity to play with Aretha Franklin, Franki Valli, The Temptations, and Tito Gomez.
As an educator, Andy has taught dozens of brass students over the past ten years, given masterclasses and clinics at high school and middle schools across the Triangle, and has been a lecturer at UNC Chapel Hill (Charanga Carolina, 2011) and Rutgers University (“Survey of Jazz Styles”, Jazz Chamber Ensemble Director, 2014). Andy has also toured North Carolina with the John Brown Little Big Band as a part of the cARTwheels educational program sponsored by the NC Arts Council.
Andy currently lives in Rougemont, NC where he is an occasional farmer on his sister and brother-in-law’s farm."