Sunday evening, he left the MGM Grand Garden Arena with no less than five grammys in his arms. Jazzman Jon Batiste dominated the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony by winning the prestigious award for “best album of the year”, the sesame of the American music industry. “I am deeply convinced, there is no better artist, better musician, better dancer, better actor. The creative arts are subjective and they touch people at a time in their lives when they need it most.”had modestly launched the musician after receiving the ultimate distinction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBFEUpVNTPM
Recognized as a true virtuoso in the United States, Jon Batiste is now in the spotlight on the international scene. A shadow artist, the multi-instrumentalist may not mean anything to you. And yet across the Atlantic his name is associated with legends like Prince, Stevie Wonder or Quincy Jones, with whom he worked.
But it is not to these collaborations that he owes his popularity. If he is also famous in the land of Uncle Sam, it is for his role as conductor and musical director of the very popular television show “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”. Here is a hyperactive artist that you have surely already met without knowing it.
On one side of the scale, Jon Batiste, 35-year-old jazzman. On the other, superstars like Justin bieber, Kanye West, Billy Eilish, ABBA or even Olivia Rodrigo. Sunday evening, the talent of Louisiana tipped the balance in his favor. And that’s a feat. Jon Batiste is one of the rare jazzmen in history to have succeeded in imposing himself against the behemoths of the American pop industry, accustomed to winning the majority of categories. Before him was Norah Jones in 2003 and Herbie Hancock in 2008. And it stops there.
Nominated in 11 categories, the young artist also won the Grammys music video of the year for his track FreedomBest Performance and Best SongAmerican Roots as well as Best Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Animated Film Drunk.
A reward that adds to the Golden Globe and the Oscar won last year. Because it is to him that we owe a large part of the soundtrack of the film. But not only. It was also his hands that served as a model when the main character plays the piano. So many nominations that reflect the eclecticism of this artist with 1001 facets.
Originally from Louisiana, Jon Batiste, whose real name is Jonathan Michael Batiste, is heir to a family of musicians. His uncle, Lionel Batiste was a recognized jazz singer and drummer of the famous Fanfare Treme while Milton Batiste, another of his uncles, was a trumpeter in the Olympia Fanfare, another reference in the musical universe of New Orleans. Surrounded and influenced by these great figures of Louisiana music, he joined the family group Batiste Brothers Band in which he played drums and percussion. A few years later, he followed the advice of his mother who suggested that he take up the piano. The young teenager trains by playing songs from video games on the piano. AT 17 years old, Jon Batiste releases his first album, Times in New Orleans.
After attending a famous artistic training center in New Orleans, the ambitious young artist decided to try his luck in New York, the cradle of jazz. A successful bet since he manages to integrate the prestigious Juilliard Schoola conservatory New Yorker internationally famous. It was during its formation that the group was born Stay humanwho will release his first album SocialMusicnumber one in the jazz rankings of the billboard.
Two years later, the musicians of the group continued the adventure by becoming the orchestra of the popular show “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
And it is by participating in this program that he will make himself known to the general public. A man of many hats, Jon Batiste simultaneously holds the position of creative director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the chair of musical director of the magazine. The Atlantic.
The musician also actively supported the Black movement Lives matterwhich campaigns against systemic racism towards the African-American community. Jon Batiste notably organized musical marches in New York. One commitment that will inspire part of his eighth studio album We Arecrowned best album of the year at the grammys Awards.
“Music has always been central to our life, to our community, to our healing, to our unspoken pain – to carrying messages and raising awareness of the condition of a people. It’s always been in the music; we just picked it up in a different cultural context”he confided in an interview with the San Francisco classic Voice.