Jon Batiste is the band leader for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" five nights a week, he just made the soundtrack for Pixar's new movie "Soul," and he is the music director for The Atlantic and the creative director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. On March 19 he's going to be releasing a new album called "WE ARE." My question is, when did he even have the time?
"I set up a recording studio in my dressing room." he smirks. "In the Ed Sullivan Theater, where we record 'The Late Show.' And I had a bunch of creatives come in over six days. And in between me doing the soundtrack and score for Soul, and consulting on that film, recording at 'The Late Show,' and doing these other things, I would come into my dressing room, basically around the clock, and we recorded the blueprint for 'WE ARE,' in six days." In the nine months after that he fleshed the idea out. Of course, using his star power to tap friends like Quincy Jones, Mavis Staples and other legends.
The resulting "WE ARE" is a look at humanity through Jon Batiste's eyes. I think it's a special thing to heal people through music." And heal music he does, with his joy and passion for the audience.