Stephen Presents: Jon Batiste (Extended)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Episode: Stephen Presents: Jon Batiste (Extended) Release Date: December 27, 2024

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Introduction

In this extended episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert engages in an in-depth conversation with the multifaceted artist, Jon Batiste. Joined by his producer, Becca, the discussion delves into Batiste’s recent accomplishments, his artistic influences, creative processes, and his perspectives on music's role in healing and community.

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Jon Batiste's Recent Achievements

Stephen opens the conversation by highlighting Jon Batiste’s impressive year, underscoring his numerous accolades and projects. Batiste shares his excitement about the upcoming release of his new classical album, Beethoven Blues, his role in the film Saturday Night where he portrays Billy Preston, and his recent collaboration with Beyoncé on her album Cowboy Carter. Additionally, Batiste mentions his Grammy nominations and his performance at the Oscars.

Notable Quote:

"I did enough for about three years, so I think I'm gonna take a long break, and y'all might not see me for a while." — Jon Batiste [03:51]

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The Healing Power of Music

The conversation shifts to the theme of music as a source of healing. Batiste reflects on how music has been a sanctuary for him, especially during challenging times. He recounts his early days on the show, where his positivity and musical contributions provided a much-needed boost for the team.

Notable Quote:

"Music is anything in the public domain, especially down in New Orleans. You're in conversation with it, you mold it and you add to it, and it won't revoke anything that exists." — Jon Batiste [09:19]

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Musical Influences and Personal Tastes

Stephen and Batiste discuss personal musical tastes, with Batiste revealing his affection for Randy Travis—a contrast to his jazz background. He humorously describes his transition from viewing Travis as a "guilty pleasure" to embracing it openly, emphasizing his belief that all music is interconnected.

Notable Quote:

"I don't think about it like I'm listening to country. I'm just listening to a man's heart." — Jon Batiste [04:23]

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Collaboration with Beyoncé

Batiste shares an anecdote about his collaboration with Beyoncé, highlighting the surreal experience of meeting her while in a casual state. He describes the encounter with humor and admiration, illustrating the blend of professionalism and personal connection in their work together.

Notable Quote:

"I hugged her, I said, man, I done fumigated the queen." — Jon Batiste [07:12]

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Exploring Classical Music with Beethoven Blues

The discussion deepens as Batiste talks about his new classical album, Beethoven Blues. Initially indifferent towards Beethoven, Batiste explains how his approach to composition evolved from rigid adherence to Beethoven’s pieces to a more conversational and creative reinterpretation, blending genres and adding his unique flair.

Notable Quote:

"But you know, mixed up Mozart. Mixed up Mozart. Chopping, chopping, chopping." — Jon Batiste [09:06]

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Portraying Billy Preston in Saturday Night

Batiste delves into his experience portraying Billy Preston in the film Saturday Night. He draws parallels between Preston’s influence on The Beatles and his own collaborative spirit. Batiste emphasizes the importance of having influential figures who elevate the creative environment.

Notable Quote:

"Stevie, you know him very well. I'm getting." — Jon Batiste [11:23]

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The Creative Process and Influential Figures

Highlighting the impact of legendary musicians, Batiste discusses his collaborations with Stevie Wonder and how witnessing Wonder’s synthesis of life and art has influenced his own approach to music. He underscores the sanctity of the creative space and the divine connection he feels with music.

Notable Quote:

"It's almost just like talking in some kind of way. You fused to the thing. The instrument becomes you. And I believe it's just the voice of God that comes out." — Jon Batiste [12:10]

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Reflections and Predictions

As the episode nears its conclusion, Batiste reflects on his journey and the importance of maintaining positivity through challenging transitions. When prompted for predictions, he shares a hopeful outlook for the future, anticipating love and new life emerging in various forms.

Notable Quote:

"I predict that people will fall in love. And I predict that new life will emerge in many forms. And I believe that to be true." — Jon Batiste [13:56]

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Closing Remarks

Stephen wraps up the conversation with light-hearted banter and mutual appreciation for the depth of their discussions. The episode concludes with Stephen encouraging listeners to engage with more content on The Late Show YouTube channel.

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Conclusion This extended interview offers listeners an intimate glimpse into Jon Batiste’s artistic journey, his philosophies on music, and the influences that shape his creative endeavors. Through candid dialogue and reflective insights, Batiste articulates a profound connection between music, personal growth, and community, making this episode a must-listen for fans and new audiences alike.

Transcript

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, everybody. You're listening to the late show pod show. I'm here joined by Stephen Colbert. Hi, Stephen.

[Becca]

Hi, Becca. I'm joined here by my producer, Becca. What are we doing today? What episode is this?

[Stephen Colbert]

This is gonna be a really nice extended interview with our great friend of the show, Jon Batiste.

[Becca]

Oh, that's fantastic. This is when he was just on.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is when he was just on.

[Becca]

That's lovely.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lovely interview. Love, Jon Batiste. So nice to have him.

[Becca]

Yeah, so nice to see him again. And you know, the nice that I saw him when he was doing the sound check because he also did a song for us that you'll see, you know, you'll see on the show in January. I saw him and he said, like, hey, man, I just, I just love the vibe in here. It just feels all the same, you know, Like, God, I miss, like, the company of all these people and how, like, the world's getting crazy and crazier out here, but in here it just all still feels good. And that was really, that was really nice because I got a lot of very good vibe hits from him over the years, you know, I feel good, I feel free. I feel fine just being me. I feel good today. Which we sang every night after the show for like nine months when we first started. And it was kind of like this sort of post hoc benediction we would do every night on the show to try to, like, keep going. Cause that was hard. It was hard to switch over into this show. And he was a big part of that sort of that necessary positivity. You need to keep going when you're trying to find your feet. Anyway, blessing to know him. Wonderful to have him back on the show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Thanks, John. Thanks for coming. Enjoy this extended podcast with our good friend, Jon Batiste.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Oh. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so happy to say that my next guest tonight is an Oscar and Grammy award winning artist and an old friend of ours. He has just released a new album, Beethoven Blues and Stars in the movie Saturday night, which he also wrote the score for. Please welcome back to the late show. Jon Batiste.

[Jon Batiste]

Good to see you again.

[Stephen Colbert]

Good to see you again.

[Jon Batiste]

I'm back in the saddle.

[Stephen Colbert]

We all the way in there.

[Jon Batiste]

Where is my horse? Yeah, I've been riding my horse.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. You've been keeping busy. We haven't talked in a little bit here. You've been keeping busy. You had a big year in the past year. You performed at the oscars, collaborated with Beyonce, Headlined your first concert tour, Went to Nigeria with Bill gates, got nominated for two grammys, Released your new classical album, and created the film score for Saturday night, which you are also in. And it's just recently been announced that you will be singing the national anthem at the super bowl in New Orleans.

[Jon Batiste]

Yay. Going back home when we had the dog dong gone where yet?

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you.

Do you care to take a breath?

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, my goodness. It's abundance. You know, I learned this from Quincy jones, who? Late Quincy Jones. He said, one time, you know, live every day like it's your last, and one day, you'll be right. Wow. And that made me feel like in the season, when it's happening and there's abundance, you do it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Make hay while the sun shines.

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah. And then you know what? After this year, I did enough for about three years, so I think I'm gonna take a long break, and y'all might not see me for a while.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, everybody needs to restore. You've said that music has the power to heal. When's the last time music healed you well?

[Jon Batiste]

Randy Travis.

[Stephen Colbert]

We were talking about Randy backstage.

[Jon Batiste]

Randy Travis.

[Stephen Colbert]

I love Randy Travis.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you always loved Randy, or is that a new thing?

[Jon Batiste]

You know, it's a guilty pleasure, actually. And now it's not a guilty pleasure because I'm all out about it, but when I was listening to jazz.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're out of the Travis closet.

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah, I came out of the closet, baby. But I was. You know, when you studying jazz, there's a strong thing of sticking to the music, being serious about the music. But, you know, now these days, I mean, I just listen to everything, and I believe everything is connected. So when I listen to Randy Travis, I don't think about it like I'm listening to country. I'm just listening to a man's heart.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. My love is deeper than the holler that's another Randy Travis. Okay, so you got.

[Jon Batiste]

You know about the Randy, huh?

[Becca]

Yeah, I.

[Stephen Colbert]

With Randy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But here's the thing, is that I Actually used to have My love is deeper than the holler oven mitt.

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, wow. Where did you get that?

[Stephen Colbert]

I got it at the Randy Travis Gift Shop and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, when I was young and on tour.

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, my God. Yeah, that's a good thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

I used to bring home oven mitts from odd places.

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, wow. So how many do you have?

[Stephen Colbert]

My old girlfriend took them all. Oh, yeah.

[Becca]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

Too much pain.

[Jon Batiste]

That is painful. That's a kid.

[Stephen Colbert]

I had to let them. There's no amount of oven mitts that'll save you from that burn, right?

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah, Joe, I. Y'all wait at all.

[Stephen Colbert]

You had an experience this year that not many people get to have. Is that this year you got to. Well, you collaborated with Beyonce on her album Cowboy Carter. What was it like working with her? Had you met her before?

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah, I met her before. I had a very awkward, gloriously awkward experience meeting her before. We worked together about five years before we worked together. And, you know, I was practicing the piano, and sometimes I go into this trance and let's just say I was wearing some sweats that I maybe had on for three days. Let's not judge. And you, you know, you get into a trance, you play, and then you get to the point where, you know, you gotta get out of there. Cause you don't know how many hours have passed. I had to get some fresh air, so I went up the street. I was living around the area right here, this concert up the street, I think it was Lincoln Center. And I called the cats over there. I know the door cats. And I said, can I come? Just check something out for some inspiration, some vibe. I went to the concert and I was side stage right in the nook, and I was looking at the concert, and I got there late. So it was like the last song. And then the encore happened. And before the encore happened, who comes just looking like a billion dollars into the nook? Ms. Carter. I see her and she's there. Bea. She just looks like she could be going to the Met Gala. And I'm in the sweats.

[Stephen Colbert]

The three day sweats.

[Jon Batiste]

Yes, the three day sweatshirt. And I realized, you know, I'm just now clocking the fact that I have a musk on my body that's like. It's like the Charlie Brown. The cloud.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah. Pig Pen.

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, my God. Pig Pen. Yeah, that's right.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Jon Batiste]

So I'm pig penning all the way. And we've met each other a few times before that. And she comes. So she comes right in for the Hug. And I can't warn her. I'm not gonna be like, no, no. But at the same time, I'm like, no, no. So. So then she comes in and I know it. I never have mentioned it to her. I didn't ask her. But I know you could feel when you must go forward and, you know, it captures someone. She got it all. And then I thought to myself, I hugged her, I said, man, I done fumigated the queen.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's a lasting impression. She's not gonna forget last. Okay, so in November, this past November, you released a new classical album. Here it is, Beethoven Blues, in which you put your own spin on Beethoven.

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah. Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

Everybody knows Beethoven. Were you always a Beethoven fan?

[Jon Batiste]

You know, I didn't really like Beethoven at first. I had.

[Stephen Colbert]

What did you have against Ludwig van?

[Jon Batiste]

He's, you know, unimpeachably great. Was a vessel for the divine to flow through him, obviously. But when I was a kid, he was the person that I had to practice their music and learn how to, you know, get through these piano lessons.

[Stephen Colbert]

That I. Yeah, yeah.

[Jon Batiste]

So I would look at the music, and for a long time, I didn't really know how to read music. I would play what Ms. Shirley would play. I'd just play it back. And I didn't know that it was normal to be able to just play it back, but I'd be playing it back, looking at the music, acting like I was reading it. And then what I ended up doing is I would take the music that he had written and I'd be in conversation with it. I would change things. I would add things to it. And then I realized that that's very frowned upon when I.

[Stephen Colbert]

Adding things to Beethoven. Yes, yes.

[Jon Batiste]

But, you know, mixed up Mozart. Mixed up Mozart. Chopping, chopping, chopping.

[Stephen Colbert]

Chopin Cheapin on the Beethoven. There you go. Yeah.

[Jon Batiste]

But you know What? It's been 256 years. It's due for an update.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I've heard some of it. It's beautiful.

[Jon Batiste]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Beautiful. Truly.

[Jon Batiste]

You know, music is anything in the public domain, especially down in New Orleans. You're in conversation with it, you mold it and you add to it, and it won't revoke anything that exists. It's only adding to the continuum of human creativity, baby.

[Stephen Colbert]

Other voices, other hands.

[Jon Batiste]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

You were a band leader here for seven years. Now you're in the film Saturday Night.

[Jon Batiste]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

That just came out this fall. You play Billy Preston.

[Jon Batiste]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Here you are.

[Jon Batiste]

Billy, Billy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Billy Preston.

[Jon Batiste]

William Everett Preston.

[Stephen Colbert]

Extraordinary, extraordinary man in his own right. Did you Ever see the Beatles documentary?

[Jon Batiste]

Oh, get that.

[Stephen Colbert]

That Peter Jackson put together, that moment when Billy Preston. Because they're all bumping up against each other, and there's not, let's say, hostility, but there's a lot of feelings in the room that aren't being expressed, and they aren't necessarily about the music.

[Jon Batiste]

The creative process.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes, exactly. The management, not necessarily the music. And Billy Preston walks in, and you see Oxygen.

[Jon Batiste]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You see, they're all on their best behavior, and they're all just thinking about the music, and they kind of want to be good for him.

[Jon Batiste]

Mm.

[Stephen Colbert]

Can one person make that much of a difference in the room? And for you, who would that be? Who would you want to have in the room more than anyone else to put you in the best head you can to create?

[Jon Batiste]

Whew. Well, one person can make that much of a difference. It's like any team, there's something. Even if it's not the best player on a basketball court or somebody who just not really considered to be the best in the world, but they have the best energy, and it just. It lifts everything. And Billy was also one of the best. I mean, you don't play for Ray Charles and Sly Stone, all the people he played for, and play his own music and not be great. But for me, that person, you know, I've been blessed in the last couple months to be regularly working with Stevie Wonder. And Stevie, you know him very well. I'm getting.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, I do not know him very well.

[Jon Batiste]

But y'all birthday.

[Stephen Colbert]

I would like. We have the same birthday. And I have interviewed him, and let's leave it at that.

[Becca]

Yes, but.

[Jon Batiste]

And I thought I knew, right. Cause you listen to the music. You know the music like the music is with you. But, man, when you see a vessel like that up close at this point in the journey, and you see how they processed everything, there's, like, shortcuts to just get right to it. And the energy of really being a human being and an artist as one, synthesize as one. It's not like a separate. Your life and your values align with your art. Something like that. You feel that before they even touch the instrument, they just come into the room and you're like, okay, this is sacred. This is serious. Let's go.

[Becca]

That sounds beautiful.

[Jon Batiste]

It is. It's almost like these. It Almost like he's not. He doesn't exist in this plane. A lot of folks, when they get into a zone, I mean, everybody on that bandstand over there, I've heard at some Point going to a space. You know, I've been playing with Joe for years. Kato is one of the best musicians in the world. He can go into ND Owens, Detroit, Naga, John Lampley. I mean, Fouche. We grew up together. I mean, just the idea, you know, when somebody goes into that space and it's. You forgot everything that you learned, all the technique, all the theory. It's not about any of that. It's not even about the instrument or music. It's almost just like talking in some kind of way. You fused to the thing. The instrument becomes you. And I believe it's just the voice of God that comes out. And when you hear that, it's undeniable. And some people are just in that flow more than others. They're just like always in it. It's like when you talk on the phone, you call him. Like I was playing something over the phone. And then he just started singing. He just woke up. I'm like, how you sound like that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Is this Stevie?

[Jon Batiste]

Stevie, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jon Batiste]

You know, just. That's an example. You don't even have to try. It's not thought at a certain point.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, it's really lovely to see you again. You know, we talk when we can, and it's always like just jumping straight back into the same conversation often about things like this.

[Jon Batiste]

I know we got deep.

[Becca]

You're a wonderful person.

[Stephen Colbert]

We go deep. Real f. But one thing, we missed you this year. For the first time in many, many years, you weren't able to join us for a Thanksgiving dinner. And every year we do predictions. Do you have a prediction for next year?

[Jon Batiste]

I predict that people will fall in love. And I predict that new life will emerge in many forms. And I believe that to be true.

[Stephen Colbert]

Can I make a prediction?

[Jon Batiste]

What's that?

[Stephen Colbert]

More music with Jon Batiste.

[Jon Batiste]

Me and you me. And.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

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[Stephen Colbert]

You do have a lot going on. I'm fine. You got a brand new baby, an unemployed wife. You got no money.

[Jon Batiste]

Okay. Okay.

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[Jon Batiste]

Plus, special agent gives.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ready to catch some bad guys.

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