His dad also co-founded the Batiste Brothers Band: seven brothers who played R&B, soul, funk and New Orleans music. He comes from a long line of New Orleans musicians, including his father, Michael, a bassist who performed with Jackie Wilson and Isaac Hayes on the 'Chitlin' Circuit' in the '60s and '70s. 30, 2017 in New York City.īennett Raglin/Getty Images for for National CARES Mentoring Movementīatiste has been in the zone since before he was born. Jon Batiste performs during the National CARES Mentoring Movement's 2nd Annual for the Love of Our Children Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Jan. 'When Joe is speaking to his class and he tells a story about the first time that he ever heard a jazz musician play, that's almost verbatim a story that that Jon told us.' Powers says the film included a lot of Batiste's ideas about jazz. He says Batiste pulled together the session musicians for a scene in the jazz club, matching up a real-life saxophonist who was a Black woman, a bass player who was an Asian woman, a drummer who was a younger Black man, with Batiste on the piano.

'One of the first things he said to us was that he sees jazz as the newest form of music that there is because you're literally making it up in the moment,' says Powers. Powers says Batiste acted as a jazz ambassador for the film. Playwright Kemp Powers, who co-directed and co-wrote Soul, says it also helps that Batiste has, 'long, lanky fingers that really lend themselves to a dynamic look' when animated. Jon Batiste rehearses at The New School on Jan.

Famous black piano players