60 Minutes Transcript: Jon Batiste

We person met a batch of musicians implicit the years, but fewer arsenic archetypal oregon arsenic talented arsenic Jon Batiste. He has large ideas and a bigger laugh. You whitethorn cognize helium was the bandleader connected "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, but that was conscionable 1 halt connected his originative journey. At 39, he's a virtuoso, who loves to play the child-like melodica. He's intent connected breaking down philharmonic silos, blending Beethoven with blues, for example, to marque thing new. Jazz, classical, folk, popular – truly immoderate sounds that occurrence his imaginativeness – get woven into what helium calls "social music." It draws from each epoch and each country of the satellite with 1 cardinal purpose: to bring radical together.

It's astir 9:30 connected a Tuesday nighttime successful Manhattan and euphony fills the air.

At the halfway of it all, the maestro of the evening: singer, composer and philharmonic dynamo, Jon Batiste. 

After tuning up, Batiste led his merry set of musicians to their stage. Where of each places? The New York City subway. 

Bill Whitaker: So what would you telephone this, erstwhile everybody came together?

Jon Batiste: We called it a emotion riot.

Bill Whitaker: A emotion riot?

Jon Batiste: Yeah. A emotion riot--

Bill Whitaker: So you've got a emotion riot goin' connected close now--

We followed them from presumption to platform…

Bill Whitaker: And the bid --

And level to train, wherever revelry ensued. 

For a fewer stops, an mean subway car became the happiest spot successful New York.

Bill Whitaker: It's a enactment successful here.

Jon Batiste: Yeah, that's what I was sayin'. It's a party, but it's precise superior and this is simply a wide revival of the soul.

Batiste dreamed up emotion riots arsenic a pupil astatine Juilliard, the famed performing arts school. The subway became a investigating crushed for his imaginativeness of uniting radical done music.

Bill Whitaker: That is the astir amusive I've ever had connected a New York subway. 

Jon Batiste: (Laughing)

Bill Whitaker: Ever

Bill Whitaker: You took this subway car that's usually a precise somber, grim place, and turned it into a blessed place.

Jon Batiste: I emotion seeing however antithetic songs onslaught a chord with antithetic people. And that's a beauteous thing, erstwhile you tin bring idiosyncratic that benignant of unexpected feeling of-- of belonging, feeling similar they're not unsocial successful the world. 

Bill Whitaker: Now what- what does that bash for you?

Jon Batiste: I conscionable bask the thought of being this vas that unites people, brings radical together, against each odds. That's a signifier of faith, for me. 

Jon Batiste: Three oregon 4 songs– 

We joined Jon Batiste astatine a temple to that faith: Electric Lady Studios successful Greenwich Village. 

Jon Batiste: Let maine get excavation together.

A who's who of artists person passed done here: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Taylor Swift. 

Batiste seemed to gully euphony from bladed air. None of this was written down oregon rehearsed – he's perpetually improvising. 

As his fingers alert implicit the keys, euphony takes quality form. Its hostility and joyousness travel done his assemblage and play crossed his face. At the keyboard helium seemed mislaid successful a trance.

Jon Batiste: You privation to perceive successful here?

We went to the power room. Only listening to the playback, did helium truly perceive what helium had created… 

Jon Batiste: Ahhh! (Laughing)

You could archer from his laugh…

Jon Batiste: Woo

He liked it… 

Jon Batiste: Oh.

A lot.

Jon Batiste: Woo, ohh, ahhh…

Bill Whitaker: That's the archetypal clip you really perceive it?

Jon Batiste: Yeah, erstwhile I'm playin' it, I'm feelin' it. I privation to enactment successful a definite travel and feeling. 

Jon Batiste: Ah ha.

When Batiste talks astir euphony …

Jon Batiste: And you spell backmost to the archetypal hymn that they recovered successful Syria oregon you know, you spell to the-- the archetypal drums oregon the cymbals in-- successful Neolithic China oregon you go– 

He seems to travel from a antithetic world. 

When helium plays, helium takes you to that different world. For Batiste, those originative feelings travel from improvisation. 

Jon Batiste: Ah! (Laughter.) Yeah, you heard it? You heard it?

Bill Whitaker: Just watching you close now, you commencement playing the piano– 

Jon Batiste: Yeah.

Bill Whitaker: –and you airy up.

Jon Batiste: Yeah. 

Bill Whitaker: Everything astir you lights up?

Jon Batiste: It's- it's a- it's a calling. When I get to the piano, there's a-- that's the openness. It's a tidal wave. I tin explicit each of those things that are here, successful here, successful here. So you are seeing the carnal practice of that connected my face, I guess, oregon successful my body, is-- you know, there's a change. 

His beingness changed dramatically successful 2014. He started dating aged person - artist, and writer Suleika Jaouad who has been successful and retired of attraction for leukemia. He erstwhile brought a emotion riot to her infirmary ward. They're present married. 

Jon Batiste: I'm a jazz musician.

Also successful 2014, helium impressed the prima of "The Colbert Report."

Jon Batiste: Everybody's ever improvising. You similar speechmaking scripts but– (LAUGHTER)

When Stephen Colbert took implicit "The Late Show," helium asked Jon Batiste and his Stay Human set to articulation him. He was Colbert's bandleader for 7 years, each the portion creating his ain music. He enactment jazz successful the people of Pixar's "Soul" and took location an Oscar. The twelvemonth helium near the precocious show, 2022, helium won 5 Grammys, including medium of the twelvemonth for "We Are." He present has 8 Grammys, 2 Emmys, and plays to sold retired venues astir the world.

We caught up with Batiste astatine the Hollywood Bowl past month, wherever the afloat expanse of his philharmonic imaginativeness took halfway stage.

Rhythm and blues, pop, Beethoven: He mixes philharmonic genres without missing a beat.

It whitethorn beryllium hard to believe, but this electrifying performer doesn't question the spotlight.

Jon Batiste: Man, I gotta archer you, Bill, I'm an introvert. I'm a deeply, profoundly introverted person. Until my aboriginal teen years, I felt that I was successful this satellite of my ain interior design.

That satellite was successful the New Orleans suburb, Kenner, Louisiana. He grew up successful a philharmonic family, but told america helium hardly spoke until helium was astir 10. He would beryllium successful this Magnolia histrion successful his family's beforehand gait and observe.

Jon Batiste: I would spell into the histrion to benignant of truly recognize stillness. You spell successful the tree, and clip stops. You gotta find your histrion successful your life.

Bill Whitaker: So what got you retired of your shell, retired of your tree? Was it music?

Jon Batiste: It's what euphony tin bash and what, successful that stillness, was being revealed to maine that I tin do, and past believing it, having the audacity to judge it. 

He didn't acceptable retired to beryllium a musician, but astatine his mother's urging, helium took up the piano, and excelled. 

That's him astatine 15. By the clip helium graduated precocious school, Batiste was playing gigs crossed New Orleans. But helium wanted a greater challenge, truthful helium went to New York and auditioned for Juilliard.

Jon Batiste: You had to beryllium capable to work music. And you cognize I started– 

Bill Whitaker: You came to Juilliard and you didn't cognize however to work music?

Jon Batiste: No, man. In the audition determination was a show speechmaking trial connected the spot. I'm similar I can't work this. What americium I gonna do?

So, helium improvised. 

Jon Batiste: Whatever it was, successful that moment, was surely not what was connected the page, but it was euphony that was coming done maine astatine that moment. 

He got successful … but soon recovered helium didn't acceptable in. Batiste told america his escaped tone clashed with the school's much structured methods. At 1 point, exasperated instructors sent him to spot a psychologist. 

Jon Batiste: (laughter)

Bill Whitaker: 'Cause you didn't conform?

Jon Batiste: I retrieve conscionable being misunderstood to the constituent that they sent maine to the psychologist. He truly understood and saw maine and helped maine to understand, astatine that opening signifier of my journey, that I whitethorn beryllium weird, but, "You're each right, son." 

Bill Whitaker: That turned retired to beryllium a bully thing?

Jon Batiste: Yeah.

He decided past and determination to make his euphony his mode without apology. 

Jon Batiste: It's truly tough, man. It's annoying. You person to beryllium comfy being misunderstood. You person to beryllium comfy moving astatine a gait that is not astatine the gait with the remainder of the world. 

We recovered it hard to support gait with him. He's ever connected the determination arsenic we saw astatine rehearsal astatine the Hollywood Bowl.

Jon Batiste: Now we gotta redo the acceptable list. 

Improvising close up to the past minute.

Jon Batiste: Let's- let's enactment connected that existent quick. 

Jon Batiste: (Singing) You, you sent me– 

His vocation is soaring but his woman Suleika's leukemia has returned. She's had to isolate and, this month, she went into the infirmary for her 3rd bony marrow transplant. 

Bill Whitaker: It seems similar a batch of your brightest moments coincides with immoderate of yours and Suleika's toughest times. You-- were nominated for aggregate Grammys astatine the precise aforesaid clip that she was facing her 2nd bony marrow transplant?

Jon Batiste: Everybody has thing that they're dealing with and the highs are ne'er abstracted from the debased points. That's life. And it's a portion of however you-- find gratitude successful life. It's the-- the mode that you find gratitude for each other.

On signifier that night, earlier a packed house, Batiste performed "Butterfly"…

Jon Batiste: (Singing) Butterfly each alone– 

A lullaby he'd composed to assistance Suleika's healing.

Jon Batiste: (Singing) Can you find your mode home?

Jon Batiste: Everybody enactment your lights successful the air. You're a butterfly.

Bill Whitaker: When you asked everybody to clasp up their phones and the full spot lit up. 

Jon Batiste: Yeah that's symbolic. That's grounds of the airy that we ignited successful these radical tonight.

Bill Whitaker: That was for her.

Jon Batiste: Yes. Yes. 

Jon Batiste: (Singing)

Jon Batiste: If you consciousness similar you're successful the dark, if you're successful that crowd, and holdin' that airy up, I got a airy successful me. I tin determination forward.

Produced by Marc Lieberman and Cassidy McDonald. Planning producer, Kara Vaccaro. Broadcast associate, Marcos Caballero. Edited by Warren Lustig.

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