USA TODAY International Edition
Batiste basks in freedom, connection music brings
Jon Batiste has no idea where he’s going. ● He’s sitting in the back seat eating curry while being driven along the West Side Highway in Manhattan. ● Destination? Unknown. ● “I trust my team to shepherd me,” he says, glancing out the window.
Life has been a whirlwind since musician and singer Batiste secured five Grammy Awards at last month’s ceremony, including a coveted album of the year win for his genrehopping “We Are.” His quintet of Grammys – the most of any artist at the 2022 awards and the first of his career – followed a leading 11 nominations in categories from R& B and jazz ( which he lost) to American roots and score soundtrack for visual media ( both of which he won).
The latter category earned Batiste, 35, another plaudit for “Soul,” the Pixar film about a jazz musician. In 2021, he shared the original score Oscar with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their work on the movie.
Music is something that “tran
scends the moment” for Batiste, and also unlocks any insecurities of the selfdescribed “natural introvert.”
“With music, you can move to a place of respect that is above any of the pettiness and darkness we face in this world,” Batiste tells USA TODAY on a video chat from the car. “You can move to a place of understanding how special you are, how special life is, and be free in your body.”
Despite Batiste’s pedigree – “We Are” is the eighth album of his career – many music fans unfamiliar with his night job as the bandleader for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” seemed as shocked as the musician himself by his major Grammy wins.
The Louisiana native, a childhood drummer who switched to piano at age 11, recorded his first album, 2005’ s “Times in New Orleans,” when he was 17.
In 2013, the year he earned his master’s degree in music at Juilliard, Batiste released the album “Social Music,” his first significant chart showing, which spent more than a month atop the Billboard and iTunes jazz charts.
At the Grammys, Batiste experienced a savored memory when he was presented with the album of the year trophy by his old pal Lenny Kravitz.
Their history reaches back to the late 2000s, when Kravitz, whom Batiste met in New Orleans, would join Batiste at secret shows in New York, hanging out and jumping behind the drum kit.
“It was cool to have him be the person to give me the Grammy because we go back to jam sessions when we were playing for about 50 people in a basement in Harlem,” Batiste says.
While Batiste, who also plays the melodica, acknowledges that his recent spate of high- profile industry acclaim has boosted his recognizability, he’s more enlivened by the broader effects.
“What I love is that ( people) are not just recognizing me, but the music appreciation,” Batiste says. Post- Grammys, “We Are” reentered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 25, signifying an increase of 2,746%.
Batiste’s vibrant Grammy performance of “Freedom,” the leading track from “We Are,” solidified what those who watch his musical virtuosity unfold on “The Late Show” already know: Batiste is magnetic.
He’s also well- respected by his boss. A few nights after the Grammys, Colbert called Batiste over to the late- night show couch to commend his victories in a segment that spotlighted the sincerity of both men.
“I love that we get a chance to be in people’s living rooms and have that real connection nightly,” Batiste says of his TV gig with his band, Stay Human. “Stephen has cultivated a community with not just those who work on the show, but with the world out there who have found solace in this time of distress, politically and socially, in what he delivers in his monologues. It’s been a great opportunity ( for me) to develop the craft of performing in front of the camera and an extension of my education as a performer and artist.”
Batiste plans to bring his performance skills and multihued musical style to stages around the world this fall and likely next summer when he can squeeze in a proper tour.
He’s also planning to wrap his residency at Carnegie Hall with the unveiling of “American Symphony,” his salute to Black excellence, saying it took him years “to get to the level of audaciousness” to craft “a musical presentation that represents the ideal democracy.” The event was scheduled for Saturday, but postponed after Batiste tested positive for COVID- 19.
Batiste also is tackling his first major film role – he’s popped up in a couple of Spike Lee joints, including 2012’ s “Red Hook Summer” – as Grady, the womanizing husband of Shug Avery, in director Blitz Bazawule’s remake of “The Color Purple.”
“He’s not like me at all, so I really have to act,” Batiste says with one of his patented wide smiles.
While Batiste can bask in the upsurge of professional opportunities, he’s weighing that celebratory success against emotional exhaustion in his personal life.
In February, he quietly wed writer and motivational speaker Suleika Jaouad, a presence in his life since they were teens at band camp. Jaouad is battling leukemia for the second time.
“The balance occurs naturally because one side is so high and the other side is so low,” Batiste says. “When you’re facing mortality and also achieving things that are historic in proportions, I can’t think of anything that is more in balance with each other. As a family, we feel in some way blessed to have the perspective that this moment is providing.”