Jon Batiste: My music mirrors my heart and the world today

Batiste is all set to make his India debut this November. Photo Courtesy: Special Arrangement

American pianist Jon Batiste has only started touring extensively last year and he's already making his way to India this November on ‘The Maestro Series' tour.

Performing in Delhi on November 24 and Mumbai on November 26 at the NMACC, the Grammy Award-winning pianist has a child-like enthusiasm that is extremely infectious when he talks about his visit and playing music here. "I'm expecting to see beautiful people, culture, and I'm very excited to be able to present this performance because it's very pure. There are no big light shows and pyrotechnics. There are no dancers and musicians. It's just me and the piano and the audience, sharing a moment that is going to be one of a kind. Every moment in these types of concerts is singular. I enjoy that sort of pure expression," he says.

Of touring and winning the Grammy
The visit, Batiste says, has always been something he has wanted to do. "I've only started touring extensively from last year because I was on television for seven years with Stephen Colbert and my friends on The Late Show and before that I was just getting out of college". India is one of only handful of places that he is performing outside the US and Europe, apart from AlUla and Dubai, before he lands in the capital and Maximum City, and ends the tour in Kuwait.

All of this comes in a year when Batiste has not only performed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl but also won two Grammy Awards for ‘Best Music Film' and ‘Best Song Written for Visual Media' for ‘American Symphony', an extremely personal biographical documentary based on one year in the life of the musician and his career, and his wife Suleika Jaouad's fight with leukaemia.

Being so close to home, how was this different from his other Grammy wins? "It's always an honour to be recognised by the public and your peers. It feels great every time. There's no difference between any of them. It's always about who you are sharing it with that makes it special. The last two Grammys that I won are part of a documentary about my wife and I that we shared with the world in difficult times. So, sharing that Grammy with her for the work and the songs, is very special." In 2022, Batiste says his ‘Album of the Year' with his grandfather, nephews, was also special. "They were all the different people who were a part of that album and people who were a part of my community. They were everyday people," shares the artist, eternally grateful.

Musical evolution
Batiste's music has so many different layers that make you feel such different emotions, which he likes to explore, and smoothly stems from the singer-songwriter's life experiences and musical journey of over three decades. Hailing from a musical family in New Orleans, music is in his genes and with that the freedom to explore the composer's artistic capabilities, so getting a formal education from Julliard School only added to his understanding of the art that wasn't bound by his origins.

Batiste shares, "I've always been blending things together because of my great mentors in my father, and my community has these elders who are musicians. They were very open about expressing yourself with all the different things that you play and not for the sake of expressing yourself for self-flagellation but expressing yourself because that's the best way for you to contribute to the community, the band, the world, to shine your light." So, earning the scholarship was only a means to add more to his enriching journey and own it in the authentic way through musical exploration.

This evolution, which he says happens almost every day and few months, also reflects in his music. "Even if you look at the last few releases like ‘Beethoven Blues' and ‘Big Money' and the two albums I'm releasing this year, they are fairly connected to me in my mind, and artistry, but in many ways they are different. It's shared music because it expresses something that is very true within my heart and what's going on in the world today. So, I'm always evolving in my understanding in what's resonating, what's true music."

So, it's no surprise that even as he is enjoying his touring, he is also working on new music. "I'm working on another symphony and I'm very excited to share that. There are always many other collaborations, and piano work. In the piano series, the Beethoven album is the first, but there are going to be many other albums that exist in the series. So, I'm very excited to share the piano work as well. Fans in Delhi and Mumbai will get to see a sneak peek of that."

Even as he is going to enjoy playing the piano at the shows, produced and promoted by BookMyShow Live, Batiste is looking forward to eating. "The food is always amongst my favourite cuisines in the world. I'm also excited to see the architecture in all the ways that is unique or similar in other parts of the world but mainly I'm always looking forward to meeting people. Sightseeing is great but the best thing to do is meeting people because that's how you truly expand your humanity and connect with the world," he concludes.