For top Grammy nominee Jon Batiste, music is both birthright and calling. So is protest

The most important day of Jon Batiste’s career got off to a bumpy start.

There was a lot of noise in his New York apartment, because it was crowded with people, including his music collaborator Ryan Lynn; his longtime girlfriend, Swiss Tunisian writer and activist Suleika Jaouad; and his parents, sister and nephews, who flew up north because Batiste was riding on the Louisiana float in the Thanksgiving parade two days later. He got a couple more nominations, then a few more, then even more. “Every time my name was mentioned, it was pandemonium.

His father, Michael Batiste, is a bassist who has performed with greats like Jackie Wilson and David Ruffin. Michael is also a co-founder of the long-running Batiste Family Band, which at one point, according to the band’s website, included 23 family members. Jon’s cousins include the late Alvin Batiste, an accomplished jazz clarinetist, and drummer Russell Batiste Jr. of the Funky Meters, one of New Orleans’ preeminent bands.

“Major labels began offering me record deals when I was 18 and 19, and I turned all of it down. I wanted to do my own independent, circuitous route.” One of his independently released albums, 2013’s “Social Music,” crested at No. 1 on the Billboard jazz album chart. He was invited to appear on “The Colbert Report” and dazzled host Stephen Colbert by leading members of the audience out of their seats and into the streets, where they sang and danced.

“We Are” was also the first time Batiste understood and could articulate his worldview, an idealistic and universal humanism in which music unites people but also acknowledges the specific struggle Black people face.

JonBatiste Mr. Baptiste, I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing you prepandemic. You entered my soul, a soul that had seemed lost. You made me believe that I could create the life I wanted after decades of living someone else's. And so much FUN.

JonBatiste Megalomania much?

JonBatiste He’s magnificent & deserves every one of the 11!!!

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