Baptiste played with Gary Crosby and Nu Troop,[1] before releasing in 1999 his debut album Be Where You Are, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize[2] and won the MOBO award for Best Jazz Act 1999.

As a soloist, Baptiste has recorded and played with many prominent international musicians, including McCoy Tyner, Ernest Ranglin, Bheki Mseleku, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Michael Bowie, Courtney Pine, Manu Dibango, Steve Williamson, Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Lonnie Plaxico, Ralph Moore, Billy Higgins, Jerry Dammers, Jean Carne, Marlena Shaw, Juliet Roberts, and Jazz Jamaica.

[4] Described as "one of the true heavyweights of UK jazz",[6] Baptiste joined Gary Crosby Nu Troop and was nurtured by the Tomorrow's Warriors programme, from where many other emerging stars on the London scene graduated.

"[12] Baptiste's most recent album, The Late Trane, released in 2017 to mark 50 years since the death of John Coltrane, was positively and widely welcomed, earning many four-star reviews.

[13][14][15][16][17] As noted by the reviewer for London Jazz News, "Baptiste may record infrequently (this only his fifth album in 18 years), but the quality, commitment and emotional impact leap out from the speakers.