We have met a lot of musicians over the years, but few as original or as gifted as Jon Batiste.
asserted
We → meet → Batiste
He has big ideas and a bigger laugh.
asserted
He → have → ideas
You may know he was the bandleader on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, but that was just one stop on his creative journey.
uncertain
that → know → journey
At 39, he's a virtuoso, who loves to play the child-like melodica.
asserted
who → love → melodica
He's intent on breaking down musical silos, blending Beethoven with blues, for example, to make something new.
asserted
He → break → something
Jazz, classical, folk, pop – really any sounds that fire his imagination – get woven into what he calls "social music."
asserted
he → fire → what
It draws from every era and every corner of the world with one central purpose: to bring people together.
asserted
It → draw → people
It's about 9:30 on a Tuesday night in Manhattan and music fills the air.
asserted
music → fill → air
After tuning up, Batiste led his merry band of musicians to their stage.
asserted
Batiste → tune → stage
So what would you call this, when everybody came together?
asserted
everybody → call → this
We called it a love riot.
asserted
We → call → it
A love riot--
Bill Whitaker: So you've got a love riot goin' on right now--
We followed them from station to platform…
asserted
We → get → platform
Bill Whitaker: And the train --
And platform to train, where revelry ensued.
asserted
revelry → ensue → train
For a few stops, an ordinary subway car became the happiest place in New York.
asserted
car → become → York
Yeah, that's what I was sayin'.
asserted
I → sayin → what
Batiste dreamed up love riots as a student at Juilliard, the famed performing arts school.
asserted
Batiste → dream → Juilliard
The subway became a testing ground for his vision of uniting people through music.
asserted
subway → become → music
That is the most fun I've ever had on a New York subway.
asserted
I → have → subway
You took this subway car that's usually a very somber, grim place, and turned it into a happy place.
asserted
that → take → place
I love seeing how different songs strike a chord with different people.
asserted
songs → see → people
And that's a beautiful thing, when you can bring somebody that kind of unexpected feeling of-- of belonging, feeling like they're not alone in the world.
asserted
they → bring → world
Now what- what does that do for you?
asserted
that → do → you
I just enjoy the idea of being this vessel that unites people, brings people together, against all odds.
asserted
that → enjoy → odds
Three or four songs–
We joined Jon Batiste at a temple to that faith: Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village.
asserted
We → join → Village
Jon Batiste: Let me get mine together.
A who's who of artists have passed through here:
asserted
who → let → artists
Batiste seemed to draw music from thin air.
asserted
Batiste → seem → air
None of this was written down or rehearsed – he's constantly improvising.
asserted
he → write → this
As his fingers fly over the keys, music takes human form.
asserted
music → fly → form
Its tension and joy flow through his body and play across his face.
asserted
tension → flow → face
At the keyboard he seemed lost in a trance.
asserted
he → seem → trance
Jon Batiste: You want to listen in here?
asserted
You → want → ?
We went to the control room.
asserted
We → go → room
Only listening to the playback, did he really hear what he had created…
Jon Batiste: Ahhh!
asserted
he → listen → what
You could tell from his laugh…
Jon Batiste:
uncertain
You → tell → laugh
He liked it…
asserted
He → like → it
That's the first time you actually hear it?
asserted
you → hear → it
Yeah, when I'm playin' it, I'm feelin' it.
asserted
I → playin → it
I want to stay in a certain flow and feeling.
asserted
I → want → flow
When Batiste talks about music …
Jon Batiste:
asserted
Batiste → talk → music
And you go back to the first hymn that they found in Syria or you know, you go to the-- the first drums or the cymbals in-- in Neolithic China or you go–
He seems to come from a different world.
asserted
He → go → world
…and 70 more, not listed.
The Aporia
