Jon Batiste

An acclaimed Grammy and Oscar recipient for his keyboard artistry, vocal performances, and compositional work, Jon Batiste brings an infectious energy and wide-ranging stylistic range to stages everywhere, fusing Crescent City jazz foundations with funk, pop, and R&B grooves. Serving as bandleader and musical director for CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 through 2022, he has traveled internationally alongside his Stay Human collective while delivering projects such as the 2013 jazz chart-topper Social Music. Hailing from the renowned Batiste musical lineage, he first gained notice during his teenage years as a prodigious jazz pianist fluent in New Orleans traditions and R&B. Having performed on sidewalks, conducted workshops across continents, and attracted large crowds to his inclusive, groove-driven approach on any keyboard he selects, Batiste has built a reputation for versatility across genres. Although recognized for mastery on piano and organ, his signature melodica playing—appearing on recordings by figures including Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick, Jr., and Trombone Shorty—has become one of his most recognizable traits. Among his honors are Grammy nods for the roots-infused interpretation of "Saint James Infirmary" from 2018's expansive Hollywood Africans and for 2020's Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard. Film scores include contributions to Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer and the 2020 Pixar animated feature Soul, which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Score. In 2021 he captured the Grammy for Album of the Year with his genre-blending eighth solo outing, We Are. Another buoyant, boundary-crossing pop release, World Music Radio, surfaced in 2023, succeeded by 2024's Beethoven Blues and the score for director Jason Reitman's comedy Saturday Night.

Entering the world in 1986 in Metairie, Louisiana, Batiste was raised amid music as the nephew of New Orleans luminaries Lionel Batiste and Harold Battiste, making early appearances alongside family members in the Batiste Brothers Band. After attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he graduated in 2004 with classmate Trombone Shorty, he issued his first album, 2005's Times in New Orleans, spotlighting drummer Jason Marsalis, saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr., and trumpeter Christian Scott. He then pursued studies at the Juilliard School in New York City, during which period he formed a trio with bassist Phil Kuehn and drummer Joe Saylor for local performances. That ensemble appeared on his 2005 release Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art. Saxophonist Eddie Barbash later joined, giving rise to the Stay Human group.

Batiste & Stay Human launched with spontaneous outdoor shows that quickly drew praise for their spirited fusion of jazz, gospel, pop, and R&B. Their inaugural EP arrived in 2011, followed by the 2013 album Social Music, which ascended to the summit of the Billboard jazz chart. That same year Batiste teamed with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and bassist/producer Bill Laswell for a film soundtrack that ultimately surfaced in 2014 as The Process when the project was shelved. In 2015, Batiste & Stay Human took the house-band position for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They followed with the Late Show EP the next year, incorporating the program's opening and closing themes plus live tracks taped during breaks; the set entered the Jazz Albums chart at number three. Later in 2016 Batiste unveiled the holiday collection Christmas with Jon Batiste.

In fall 2018 he delivered his first Verve album, Hollywood Africans, shaped by producer T-Bone Burnett into an introspective exploration of personal and cultural roots that interlaces originals with American standards, tracing a path from early New Orleans jazz to contemporary forms. The project reached number two on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and secured a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Performance via its "Saint James Infirmary" reading. August 2019 brought Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard, documenting his 2018 residency at the historic New York venue with guests such as Lake Street Dive vocalist Rachael Price, tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, trumpeter Jon Lampley, and additional players. A companion release drawn from the same residency, Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard, appeared that October.

May 2020 saw the arrival of Meditations, a collaboration with guitarist Cory Wong that earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Age Album. The following month Batiste issued the track "We Are," sparked by the Black Lives Matter protests. He also contributed music to the Disney-Pixar animated film Soul that year—alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—while releasing the companion album Music from and Inspired by Soul; Soul later won the Oscar for Best Original Score in addition to a Golden Globe. March 2021 marked the release of the pop-leaning studio album We Are, featuring appearances by Mavis Staples, author Zadie Smith, PJ Morton, Trombone Shorty, and others. Peaking at number 25 on the Billboard 200, it garnered eleven Grammy nominations and ultimately took Album of the Year.

Mid-2022 saw Batiste depart The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to concentrate on solo endeavors; longtime member Louis Cato assumed leadership, with the ensemble renamed the Late Show Band. That year he premiered the extended composition "American Symphony" at Carnegie Hall. The creation of the work, together with personal milestones such as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad's leukemia treatment, became the focus of director Matthew Heineman's 2023 documentary American Symphony.

After concluding his Late Show tenure, Batiste returned to the studio and emerged in May 2023 with the upbeat, pop-reggae-tinged single "Be Who You Are," featuring JID, Camilo, and NewJeans. This introduced his seventh project, the uplifting concept album World Music Radio, which centered on communal bonds forged through music and arrived that August with further contributions from Jon Bellion, Lana Del Rey, Kenny G, and additional artists. The record registered on the Billboard 200 and collected four Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.

February 2024 launched Batiste's first headlining Uneasy Tour, alongside intimate solo-piano improvised concerts presented as STREAMS: Jon Batiste at the Piano. He also composed the score for Jason Reitman's Saturday Night, a film about Saturday Night Live in which he portrayed singer Billy Preston. November brought the solo album Beethoven Blues: Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1, containing reinterpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven alongside original pieces.