Batiste was born on November 11, 1986 in Louisiana. He started percussion as a child with his family, which includes a long heritage in the gospel and jazz genres. This year he added 11 nominations that make him the artist most likely to be filled with gramophones.
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Jon Batiste has recorded with legendary artists like Stevie Wonder, Prince and Willie Nelson. To many, however, he is best known for being the music director and bandleader for Stephen Colbert’s late-night variety show.(United States) EFE / EPA / ETIENNE LAURENT
This year’s Grammy Awards will be contested by various pop stars such as Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and sensation Olivia Rodrigo, but it is the jazz player Jon Batiste, with eleven nominations, who has the best chance of filling up with gramophones.
Hailing from a New Orleans musical dynasty, Batiste built a career in the industry on his talent and artistic vision. A constant figure on red carpets, the 35-year-old musician already has an Oscar under his belt.
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The musician has recorded with legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, Prince and Willie Nelson. To many, however, he is best known as the music director and bandleader for Stephen Colbert’s late-night variety show.
Batiste is also the creative director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and last year, in addition to the Oscar, he won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA (British Academy of Film Award) for the soundtrack of the film “ Pixar’s Soul, composed with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
But the Grammy, which he has already played three times in previous editions, is still slipping out of his hands.
Batiste competes this year in several categories against established stars like Bieber, and against new phenomena like Olivia Rodrigo.
The musician disputes the great album and recording of the year categories, as well as R&B and jazz, among others.
“WOW!! Thanks god! I love them! I am very grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors,” he tweeted in November when the nominations were announced.
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“Universal language”
Batiste was born on November 11, 1986 in Louisiana. He started percussion as a child with his family, which includes a long heritage in the gospel and jazz genres.
He quickly switched to piano and released his first album, “Times in New Orleans,” at age 17.
In 2004 he graduated from the New Orleans Center for the Arts and continued his music training at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.
Batiste became a figure of the jazz scene, with a prolific production.
In 2015, together with his band Stay Human, he conquered the space on Stephen Colbert’s show, guaranteeing millions of viewers every night.
The young musician, in a relationship with the journalist Suleika Jaouad, uses his voice to speak out against racism, and more recently has promoted a campaign in support of Ukraine, in the midst of the Russian invasion.
In March 2021, he released his eighth studio album, “We Are”.
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The production mixes jazz, soul, hip-hop, pop and R&B, with lyrics that, according to Batiste, offer a message of hope and communion.
“Music speaks to the emotions of the subconscious. [Este álbum] It feels like something we all felt in 2020, and the music brings that to the surface in a way that I think nothing else could,” he said in an interview with Atwood magazine last year. “It’s a universal language.”