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-[water trickling] -[man humming]
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[geese honking]
[melodica playing]
[Batiste] Since I was a child, I was always making things.
My mind is always making things.
Just continues to become more and more of a survival mechanism
as the years move on.
It's the way I process all the things in my life.
[piano notes playing]
[applause]
[Colbert] Before we get to the show, ladies and gentlemen,
Grammy nominations were announced.
And the most honored artist this year with 11 nominations
-is Mr. Jon Batiste right there. -[cheering and applause]
[Colbert] Our bandleader, ladies and gentlemen.
[continues playing piano]
[Colbert] Best Traditional R&B Performance,
Best R&B Album, Best Improvised Jazz solo,
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best American Roots Performance,
Best American Roots Song, Best Contemporary Classical Composition,
Best Score Soundtrack for Soul, Best Musical Video for "Freedom,"
Record of the Year for "Freedom,"
and Album of The Year for We Are.
-Damn! -[applause and cheering]
Come on.
[piano playing continues]
[Batiste] What we love about music is not that it sounds good.
What we love about music is that it sounds inevitable.
It's playing the thing that we all know is unfolding.
Whether we want to accept it or not.
And it's there always.
You just need to harness it.
Be open to it.
[car horns honking]
That sounds so…
Happy New Year.
Mmm.
It's a new year.
We missed it.
To family and freedom.
Thank you.
[man singing on recording] ♪ Should auld ♪
-♪ Acquaintance be forgot ♪ -♪ Acquaintance be forgot ♪
-♪ And never brought to mind? ♪ -[vocalizing]
How are you feeling?
I'm tired, but I'm good.
♪ …acquaintance be forgot ♪
♪ And the days of auld lang syne? ♪
[woman on the phone] Jon Batiste.
[Batiste laughs] Hey!
I heard you thinkin' about those Grammys. Are you gonna represent?
Oh, my goodness, I thought it was like an SNL bit or something
when the people were saying, "Jon Batiste,
Jon Batiste, Folk Americana, Jon Batiste, Classical,
Jon Batiste," like, are they trying to prove a point or what?
And you're bringing so much joy to all of us
because you're gonna be doing American Symphony at Carnegie Hall.
Well, I just am honored to be able to present something so-- so large-scale
and, um, you know, it's my first time doing a symphony premiere,
and it's really special because for me, a symphony can be
something we haven't seen before and that's what the goal of this is.
Basically like, okay, so if a Symphony Orchestra was created in 2022,
what would that be?
What would the music that it played sound like?
You'd have classical musicians in there, for sure.
Avant-garde musicians, folk musicians, jazz musicians.
There is room for all of us to coexist.
There's a space for us all to be different and quirky
and strange and beautiful together.
That's what America is about. That's the ideal where we should coexist
if we lived up to the things that we say we are about.
We're gonna play it one time, one night only, at Carnegie Hall.
[man on phone] All right, beautiful, Jon, thank you so much.
Have a great one, everybody.
[Batiste] We need to get a few different musical section leaders.
Right. Mm-hm.
Like concert masters for…
Totally. Yeah. For each individual little chorus.
-Exactly. -Yeah, mm-hm, yeah.
I feel like, yeah, once we get, like, the core, like, musical identity
of what's going on, this is everything.
The output of this should be one score that has everything…
-Right. -Um…
And you know, there's some parts that, you know, may not even look like a score.
There might be some that's just
-like a list of directions. Exactly. -Directive.
-Exactly. -Or, you know, pictures.
[chuckles] You know, whatever we end up deciding is gonna work for that.
So, I think what will happen after that is rehearsal and then we'll do more edits.
-Yeah, exactly. Yeah. -Final edit.
It go… [vocalizing]
[man] Yeah.
You can do, like the chant they do, like…
[vocalizing and playing piano]
Yeah, that-- That's what I'm saying.
-[man] Yeah, yeah. -That's what I was thinking about.
-So good. Yeah. -And then you get that--
-Yeah. Yeah. -There's a moment where it's like that.
And then you can have that going while the, the um-- the… [piano playing]
-Yeah. -I forgot what the bassline is,
but yeah, where that other part comes in.
Yeah, whoo.
Man, that's gonna be a really cool sound and what a way…
-Whoo! Whoo! -…of opening. Oh, my God.
-What! -[man] Yes.
-Whoo. Oh. -Ahh…
It go, "Hey, ya, hey ya"… [vocalizing]
[piano playing]
[man chuckles]
[Batiste] My ambition for composing this symphony is massive.
I'm trying to expand the canon of symphonic music.
Break through long gate-kept spaces.
And all without having the space in my life carved out to focus on it.
[announcer] Jon Batiste!
[applause and cheering]
[funky music playing]
[trumpet playing]
[Batiste] I always knew I wanted to be a leader.
I was always driven to do some version of what I'm doing now.
It's just evolved and gotten freer.
Growing up in New Orleans, music was always a part of the family.
-[Batiste laughing] -[lively jazz playing]
[laughs]
My dad was my first musical mentor.
My mother, she really believed in classical piano as a foundation.
"Know your craft. Do your thing."
And at one point, I had to decide.
Stay. Find my way as a musician back home,
or go to college and do something.
So that's how I ended up at Julliard.
Hello.
Whoo!
Juilliard. You get to this place and it's very classical culturally.
European classical music.
It's not a Black Southern thing by any means.
They were looking at me, like, "Who is this kid from New Orleans?"
[jazz music playing]
First thing I did when I got to Julliard was get a regular gig
and put together a band.
Nobody understood what we were trying to do with Stay Human.
Why was this band even called Stay Human?
Why are they playing on the subway for free?
Why's he playing a child's toy instrument and not the piano?
Why's he wasting his talent?
Everything was met with pushback, pushback, pushback.
From Julliard. From everybody.
I was there for seven years.
Very young.
And then to see what's changed.
To see that mural and you see the melodica.
That's the instrument they told me to stop playing,
that's when they sent me to the psychiatrist
they're like, "He might be crazy."
[chuckles] And now there's a mural.
It's just, like… beyond.
I always marched to the beat of my own drum
for better or for worse.
And I knew from the beginning, I didn't fit into this.
I-- I needed to create my own situation.
My own space, my own world.
[drums playing]
When I was at Julliard, Stay Human would get invited
into all of these alternate universes in New York City
just from playing on the streets and subways.
The first time I met Questlove, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Then Lenny tells Madonna, "Hey, we've got this kid, Jon Batiste from New Orleans."
It's so surreal.
You gotta understand, I was living in Washington Heights
eating Goya beans for dinner every night.
-[melodica playing] -[crowd whooping]
It was, like, free. [laughs]
[music, cheering continue]
Hi, I'm Stephen Colbert down in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Thank you very much.
And people keep asking me who my band leader's gonna be.
Well, I like this guy.
Hi, I'm Jon Batiste.
[Batiste] And all of a sudden. Bang. The Late Show.
Like BC, AD.
I mean it completely pulled me out of that world.
I became somebody who was in a castle somewhere.
[Colbert] Jon, I love the music, thanks for being my band leader.
-Are you having a good time up there? -Yeah, good job, man, it pays well.
[laughs] Good to know, man.
-Yeah. -Good to know.
-But obviously, you do it for the love. -I love it, man, I love money.
[Batiste] Everything changed.
It was like, how did I get here?
[automated voice] Twelfth floor.
I'm glad to see everybody here on the Zoom, and I just wanted to explain
a little bit about the piece
that we're embarking upon and how important it is to me.
"American Symphony" is the working title.
I've been working on this for almost four years.
There's a four movement, 40-minute piece of music
already composed,
but it's not done because I don't have the input
and the inspiration from you all here.
[acoustic guitar playing and voice and vocalizing]
I want you to feel ownership of this piece
in the sense of bringing everything that you know to the table.
[drums beating, voices singing]
You are the incredible musicians.
If you feel like there's something that you want to feature
Something that makes you uniquely you.
That will be our reference going forward.
♪ Dawn day to dusk ♪
♪ The night, it comes for us ♪
♪ But we shall overcome ♪
[Batiste] Music comes from life experiences.
-♪ Dawn day to dusk ♪ -[raucous music playing faintly]
♪ The night it comes… ♪
I call it social music.
Our ancestors got together just like this in a circle to play music.
Protesting.
We play music to communicate unspoken pain and joy.
I think we're gonna make something truly remarkable
that I think will speak to people on a very profound level.
♪ The night, it comes for us ♪
♪ But we shall overcome ♪
That's the-- The vision.
Y'all are here and this is a blessing for me so thank you so much for your time.
[man] Honored to be a part of it, bro.
[slow, rumbling rhythm playing]
Now wail and cry.
-With the mouth? -No, however you want.
[Batiste] I thrive on creating an atmosphere where it's all on the line.
People, when they have too much comfort,
music don't have the right intensity.
Even in life, if you're too comfortable, you don't evolve.
And hit that thing.
-[musical accents intensify] -[trombone wailing]
Oh!
Yeah.
Man. Yeah.
Do you think I'm gonna crack?
[man on phone] Can you just calm your booties, please? [chuckles]
[Batiste] All of the Black male ones crack.
At a certain level, they all crack.
I know. I know.
Are you-- are you ever scared of that?
Huh.
Yeah, that's a serious one.
'Cause you can see where you're heading.
Yeah, make me almost not wanna do it.
No, you don't mean that, you want it too much.
-You're gonna be all right. -What you-- What you see in me?
-That, uh… -I see that--
I see that you're doing it and you're shaking it,
and you're getting there, and you're moving it.
But what do you see in me as the, uh-- the potential crack?
[laughs]
If you did crack, you'd crack privately and get back together again.
Well, first I gotta-- I gotta make it.
Well, you made it. You made it.
But am I gonna crack?
If I keep on going, rising up high, am I gonna crack?
[geese honking]
[Batiste] I've never been sledding before.
[woman laughs]
-Wondering what the purpose of it is. -[man on phone] Definitely need a slo-mo.
-Yes. -So you get his whole face, like…
[Batiste] What am I supposed to do with that? [chuckles]
You have to release, you have to surrender.
I like to live a little on the edge.
[man on phone] Me, too.
You secretly like it, Jon, admit it.
-He does. -He does-- You can see it in his eyes.
He likes-- He likes to pretend like he's against it,
but he secretly loves the thrill.
-[Batiste] Oh, no. -[laughs] So…
I don't wanna do that.
-Oh. -[Jaouad] It's gonna be so fun.
I'll watch you do it.
-We're gonna do it together. -No.
All you have to do is just sit.
No.
Jon has never gone sledding before.
[man] Perfect.
[Jaouad] All right, Jon.
[Batiste] Mm-mm.
-You want me to push you? -No, I want you to sit behind me.
No, I'm gonna sit on the front.
It's cold.
I'm cold and uncomfortable.
[Jaouad laughs]
-[Jaouad] Uh-oh. -[Batiste] What happened?
-[Jaouad laughs] Stay to this rate. -Huh?
[Batiste] Ah!
[both laughing]
My goodness.
What!
Get it.
Oh, sorry, boo.
Nobody can hit me with snowballs, I have leukemia. [laughs]
[Batiste] What you gonna do with that?
-I don't know, just… -Put your weapon down.
Oh!
-[Jaouad] Whoo! -[man] Ow!
-Okay, this game is over. -[woman] This game is over.
The game is over and you…
[Jaouad laughing]
Whoo, it's cold. Hoo!
[Batiste] I'm always in awe of Suleika
and how she deals with hardship.
Of overcoming the odds.
It's nothing short of miraculous.
It really inspires me.
At 22 years old, I was diagnosed with leukemia.
[piano playing]
And when I was sick, I vowed that if I survived,
it had to be, to live a good life, an adventurous life,
a meaningful one.
[woman] Writer Suleika Jaouad shared her journey with cancer
with millions in a popular New York Times column
called Life Interrupted.
[man] Her bestselling book is titled Between Two Kingdoms,
a memoir of life interrupted.
[Jaouad] Long before we were in a romantic relationship,
Jon and I shared a creative language.
We both see survival as its own kind of creative act.
It's what helps us alchemize the different things that come up in life
and transform them into something useful and meaningful,
and even beautiful.
[Batiste] I learn from her all the time, to look into darkness and despair,
and face it.
But you can't let it consume you.
[piano playing]
-[strikes final piano note] -[phone chimes]
[man on phone] Hello? How are you?
I'm okay, you know.
Tell me everything or nothing, whatever you…
Oh, God.
It's been a tough couple of months,
but, um, I get admitted a week from today for about a month,
maybe a month or two.
Depending on the day, I feel terrible or okay. [laughs]
But I feel in good spirits, today was a good day, we went sledding
which was fun… [fades]
[ambient music playing]
[Jaouad] It feels so eerie to have cancer again
after nearly ten years of remission
and to be getting a second bone marrow transplant.
A last resort option and a really risky procedure.
It's a bizarre moment in our lives.
My first day of chemo, his 11 Grammy nominations were announced.
We've both had so many good things happening in the last couple of months
and so many incredibly hard things.
I honestly don't know how to hold such extremes.
[Jaouad on the phone] Can I show you something? I'm having an issue.
[Batiste] Yeah.
My port is bleeding.
She thinks it's because my platelets are low,
but I have to keep an eye on it.
Otherwise, I'll have to go in. Yeah.
You wanna go in now? Because we could just come back.
Absolutely don't. I'm fine. It's stopped bleeding.
That happened a little bit the first time.
It piled up.
Okay, let's just keep an eye on it.
Do you genuinely like the dresses I tried on, or should I go shopping?
I like them a lot. I like the sequined one a lot.
-Best? -Best out of the two that I saw, yes.
[quirky funky music playing]
[man] Anything in particular that you want in there?
In the blessing? Family, freedom and health.
[Jaouad] It's all gonna come together.
I'm very much in survival mode right now.
I feel like we're living a life of contrasts.
[Batiste] Why, what do you mean?
It's just a lot.
[piano playing]
Yeah. So this-- These are just the skeletons
of each section.
-[man] So… -Theme, bassline.
So with the symphony there's an aspect of optimism to it.
-Yup. -There's a-- It's a-- It's, um…
-Sunrise. And then… -Mm-hm.
-[piano refrain plays] -The other thing…
-[humming the melody] -Mm-hm.
-There, you get the-- [laughs] -[man] Yeah.
Come into the space.
Ooh, that's nice.
[piano playing]
Man, what is that?
-Sounds like something. -I know. [chuckles]
[piano and trombone play together]
What is that?
[resumes playing piano]
That's important, man, that thing.
-Where it feels familiar at home… -Yes.
When it feels like something, but it's not something.
-Yeah. -That's when you know it's good.
-Yeah. -Feels like you've heard it before.
-Right, right. -But it's actually new.
-Yeah. [laughs] -That's the best.
Oh! [vocalizes]
[piano and trombone play together]
In marriage, a new family is established.
And as the scriptures themselves state, these two shall become one flesh,
for the benefit of one another, for the flourishing of society,
and to the glory of God.
Suleika and Jon, I ask you now in the presence of God,
and these witnesses, to declare your intention.
So Jon, repeat after me. I, Jon, take you, Suleika, to be my wife.
I, Suleika, take you, Jon, to be my husband.
To have and to hold from this day forward.
For better or for worse.
[Jaouad] For richer or for poorer.
[Batiste] In sickness and in health.
To love, honor, cherish, and protect.
-Till death do us part. -Till death do us part.
[wedding officiant] These rings you have selected
are token of your marriage covenant.
[all laughing]
May the Lord bless these rings to be a sign
of the vows by which the two of you are joining your lives together.
So now, I announce to you that they are husband and wife.
Those whom God has joined together, let no one separate. Amen.
[man] Amen.
Jon, you may kiss your bride.
[whooping and clapping]
[shutter clicks]
[indistinct dialogue]
-Join the club. -[laughs]
[Batiste] We met in the Skidmore summer jazz camp.
[Jaouad] And we were very awkward teenagers.
[Batiste] She had the bass and books.
And Birkenstocks. It's an energy.
[all laughing]
And she was saying all these crazy things.
To me, like, she don't even really know me really.
But it was like, "We're gonna take over the world."
-"Change the world." -[Jaouad] Oh, yeah, I remember.
-[Batiste] Yeah, I'm into that. -[Jaouad] I think you and I were, like…
I will say this about Jon.
Jon has the greatest capacity for change
and improvisation
and growth, of anyone I've ever met.
This is a moment that calls us to embody what our relationship is.
It's not, you know, all champagne and beautiful things,
but it's the hard things.
[Batiste] And Suleika, you're such a survivor.
I just think that we should celebrate not just this relationship,
but who you are and what you're about to come through.
♪ Unforgettable ♪
♪ Though near or far ♪
♪ Like the song of love ♪
♪ That clings to me ♪
♪ How the thought of you Does things to me ♪
♪ Never before ♪
♪ Has anyone been more ♪
♪ Unforgettable ♪
♪ In every way ♪
♪ And forever more ♪
♪ Unforgetta… ♪
♪ Unforgettable ♪
♪ Unfor-- ♪
♪ Unforgettable ♪
♪ To ♪
[doctor] Hello. Hi.
I'm Doctor Ghosh, I'm the attending on the BMT service.
We're here for a transplant.
-[Jaouad] Yeah. -I know you've gone through this before,
it's been a decade back.
A second transplant can be a little more difficult sometimes…
-[Jaouad] Yeah. -…but we're all here to take care of that.
Expected, unexpected.
-All right, thank you very much. -Thank you.
[Jaouad] Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
What is the age range on this floor, would you say?
[nurse] Age range, uh… Eh…
Average is like, 50 to 70.
-Mm-hm. -We have the outliers.
Last time, I was-- I remember being struck by that because I was 22.
What can I do for you?
[Batiste] Nothing. Heal.
[chuckles]
I remember feeling a lot more scared last time.
I don't know if it's because I'm older.
And just like more together.
Or because I know what to expect.
Or because I'm in total denial.
What do you think it is?
[Batiste] Mm.
-Time moves on. -Mm-hm.
[indistinct chatter]
-Too much sauce right now. -How you feeling?
Man, we in it, let's do it.
-I'm so glad we could link this up. -Same. Happy to be here.
Yeah, when Matt gave me that call, I was like,
-no thinking, no hesitation. Yes. -Oh, man.
[sampled female voice] Better in a greater world.
Better in a greater world
for all people. Better in a greater world--
I've gotta get used to the delays of each one.
[vocalizing]
Okay, so the 4/4 is in two,
the 5/8 is gonna be a three plus two.
So that's later on, 5/8, three plus two.
The 3/2 will be in three. Big beats.
[vocalizing rhythm] All right?
I've never seen a conductor in Jordans before.
Whoop. Sorry.
Hello, everybody.
Hello, thank you all for being here everybody.
I love you all, thank you so much for playing this.
This is gonna be a work in progress.
It's gonna sound how it sounds
until it sounds how it sound.
[scattered laughter]
So, let's just play what's on the paper,
and it's probably not gonna be what's on the paper 100 percent,
but we'll start there. So let's do it.
[applause]
[orchestral music playing]
[Batiste] You have to confront the brutal facts of the reality
that you might not pull it off.
But at the same time have unwavering faith.
Completely unwavering faith.
And you have to do both at the same time.
[Jaouad] Creativity is my way of making sense of the world,
especially during difficult moments.
When I entered the transplant unit,
one of the medications caused my vision to blur,
and instead of being able to reach for the things I love most,
writing and words,
I realized I was going to have to find a different mode of expression.
That became painting.
Can I quickly show you a sneak peek of my newest painting?
Whoa. Wow.
Wait. Mmm.
You like?
I love it.
You're really dealing with this, like,
fever dream, Noah's Ark,
slightly angelic, slightly apocalyptic, dystopian,
kind of symbolic, Biblical dreams. [chuckles]
Yes, that's what I'm going for.
It seems like it's becoming a series or a project.
I love that idea.
All right, love.
Bye.
Enjoy the water.
You're in the womb space right now.
That's what it is.
I think I gotta go to work, I might miss work with a pool.
-Okay, okay, go to work. Bye. [chuckles] -[chuckles]
[hip-hop playing on speaker]
♪ I'm not Black, I'm OJ ♪
♪ You're okay ♪
[Batiste] There's an article
about how I shouldn't be nominated for a Grammy in classical music,
because I'm a pop musician, like that's the outrage.
-[man] You're a musician's musician. -[chuckles]
That's fantastic. That should be celebrated.
That we decided to put a classical composition on the album,
that's not a classical album.
Which is even scarier for them because that means classical
is not this, like, conventional pigeonhole situation.
So in one article, I'm an industry darling…
[man] Mm-hm.
…competing against Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo
and in the other article, I'm infuriating classical musicians
because I'm nominated for a Grammy in classical music,
and I'm not classical enough
because I'm a pop musician.
I don't know anything about classical music.
I'm a pop musician.
I don't play music.
I'm an industry darling pop star.
I don't know how to compose and I'm a pop musician.
I'm an industry darling, but I'm a jazz musician.
[toilet flushes]
Why be jealous of anything at all, ever?
Why be jealous?
Be you.
[water running]
[man] Oh, what is-- What is this?
That's the symphony.
-Yeah? -I'm putting it together.
Wow.
Do you hear it?
Yes, it's lovely, can you play a little more?
Yeah, yeah, I don't have it all, um, it's in pieces.
I see, mm-hm.
I'm building it up, for jazz, classical, all kinds of musicians…
-Mm-hm. -…coming together.
That's good.
Do you remember when I first came here?
Yes, I remember the first day.
-Yeah. -I remember very well.
-Mm. Mm. -I remember very well.
You tried to impress me with a lot of-- a lot of stuff.
-[laughs] -And I complained about your sound.
-Yeah, I think I was 18 or something. -Yes. [laughs]
-That was great. -It was wonderful.
[teacher] Let's play the Beethoven.
[Batiste] So, let's see.
It's like, um… [piano playing]
Remember, with the-- the ringing tone?
You have to breathe, you are not breathing.
You have to separate with your hand.
[vocalizes the music]
Listen to what I'm saying.
How many times did I breathe?
-You breathe a lot. -Yeah.
But you don't process it that way.
No but you breathe a lot because you are expressing something.
Right.
If you don't breathe, it's like a computer,
it doesn't express anything.
You want life.
[teacher] Breathe.
Yes! That's it.
That-- That has to sound like a desperate scream.
Mm.
-Ya, ya, ya! Like desperate. -Mm, mm.
[Batiste] I usually don't pay much attention
to articles other people write about me.
I just don't like being categorized as anything.
People often think there's one or two ideas
of what a Black creative should be doing.
and because people are just so used to seeing those specific narratives,
then when they see something else, it has to be dumbed down
for them to receive it.
The levels of our achievements are diminished.
They're not seen as a part of the canon.
And that's exactly what we're pushing against with this symphony.
[funky beat playing]
[Jaouad] I'm starting to feel a little torn down.
Come on. Nope.
You gotta keep the energy up.
No excuses.
So then.
["Lean On Me" by Bill Withers playing over phone]
All right.
[Batiste] ♪ You can roll ♪
How about Simon Says?
What's that game we play?
Yeah.
♪ Somebody to lean on ♪
♪ I just might have a problem That you'll understand ♪
-[Batiste laughs] -Feels good.
[poignant music playing]
[Batiste] I feel a strong, strong desire to take the pain away.
But I can't.
This is a moment. A test.
And it's nobody's fault and nobody can control it.
[Batiste] Channel disconnected.
-[monitor beeping] -[Jaouad] I used to know how to do this.
[Batiste] What's disconnected?
Calm down, Scottie.
There'd be no Jon Michael Batiste without Scottie Pippin.
[poignant music playing]
[drum beat playing]
[full band begins playing]
[music cuts out]
♪ They said, just tell it like it is ♪
♪ Love how you live ♪
-♪ I'm talkin' to you ♪ -♪ When you're doing what you do ♪
♪ Whoo-ow, yeah, yeah ♪
-[music builds] -[playing lively piano]
♪ I want you to tell it like it is ♪
♪ Love how you live When you're doing what you doing ♪
♪ Just tell the truth ♪
-Hey. -[music fades]
Just wrapped. Headed to Phoenix.
'-[Jaouad] Oh, I miss you a lot. -I miss you too.
[playing "Let It Be" on piano]
Together.
[all] ♪ Let it be, let it be ♪
♪ Let it be, let it be ♪
♪ Sleep, little darling, do not cry ♪
♪ And I will sing a lullaby ♪
[Batiste]Hey, boo. What's going on?
[Jaouad on the phone] I'm not doing too well.
I've got a horrible nausea, stomach cramps,
-[Batiste] Oh, that's really tough. -I don't know.
Life is so brutal sometimes.
♪ Hey sinnerman Where you gonna run to? ♪
♪ Hey, sinnerman Where you gonna run to? ♪
♪ All along that day ♪
There's so much that's going on in the world,
but I just wanna invite you right now,
to leave it all behind.
There's so much, just-- Let's strip it away
and share in a beautiful moment of genuine human exchange and love.
-[applause] -Let's do that.
♪ Well, I said "Rock, what's the matter with you, Rock" ♪
♪ Don't you see, I need you, Rock ♪
[Jaouad on the phone] I just feel like crap so I think my voice is breaking up.
[Batiste groans]
[Jaouad] Last night I had horrible experiences.
[Batiste] What happened?
[Jaouad] My bed filled with blood
because one of my lumens got busted.
[Batiste] Oh, my goodness.
-[Batiste] Hey. -[Jaouad on the phone] Hi.
[Batiste] What's happening?
[Jaouad] I've just been like, painting and fleshing out these ideas.
Trying to get healthier.
[Batiste] Well, we need to make that happen.
We are on the path.
[playing final high notes on piano]
[applause and cheering]
[mouthing] Thank you.
And, um…
I wanna dedicate this last one to Suleika.
[applause]
[piano intensifies]
[playing rapid arpeggios]
[breathing heavily]
[notes fade]
["Suite No. 3 in D Major" by J. S. Bach playing]
Can we change the music, maybe it's the music that's making me cry.
-Mm-hm. -It feels emotionally manipulative.
[nurse] We can get your cells hooked up.
Sorry.
Hi Lizzie G, hi, Lizzie P.
-Hi Su Su. -[laughs]
I was telling Carmen that I'm painting giraffes
because it's the only thing that's preventing me from crying.
[woman] Aww, sweetheart, can I see it? Put it closer to the camera.
[nurse] Two seconds. We're gonna start-- Ooh, exactly 10:10.
[Jaouad] Nice.
Should have waited till 11:11.
No, 10:10 is just as good.
[melodica playing]
Yeah, Carmen, I see those shoulders moving.
[funky refrain playing]
♪ I never had a dime ♪
♪ I'd be rich as Rockefeller ♪
♪ Da, da, da, da, da-dada ♪
[Jaouad] All right Lizzie Presser, get in there.
♪ Da, da, da, da-da ♪
♪ Da, da-da da, da, da, da-da ♪
[woman chuckling] Yay!
[Jaouad]Best bone marrow transplant ever.
[indistinguishable overlapping voices over computer]
[monitor beeping]
[whispers] Love you.
-[Jaouad] Where are you going? -Mm?
-You leaving? -Mm-mm.
Good.
[Jaouad murmurs]
[Batiste humming softly]
[breathing heavily]
[woman on phone] Right now you're anxious and you're scared.
[Batiste] Yes. It's a lot.
So when you find yourself, I just-- I don't wanna move,
it's important to take your mind to the place of intention.
Mm-hm.
I feel anxious, got my heart beating, I feel like I can't breathe.
Whatever it is, but I'm going to go to what I know I want to see happen,
rather than what's scaring me, a terrible outcome.
You've got no energy whatsoever, it doesn't help you at all.
At all. And come back to what you know you want to see happen.
Yes.
What do you do with yourself today? What happens to you now?
It's gonna be a long day at work.
How does it feel to you to think about working?
It sucks.
You know, I don't feel like doing anything.
Well, how do you go through it then?
You just do it.
You just do it, you put on your professional hat and you just do it.
I've been doing that for many years in my life, so…
Right. I mean this is one of the biggest situations in your life.
Yeah, but some days you just wanna stop the train.
You know what, and it-- You know, really, if there was a day
it would be right now for you.
Mm-hm.
With what's going on with Su, absolutely, this would be a day to stop the train.
That would make so much sense.
On the other hand, this is the train you're on right now.
[intense, dissonant music playing]
When drum circles play in Africa,
everybody be soloing and improvising on the rhythm.
If you apply that to jazz, this is what you get.
It ain't just one person soloing
and everybody else has a different conception.
We all solo.
So, let's ju-- We just gotta find it. Yeah.
[intense music playing]
Bop, bop. Bop, bop.
Uh, uh. Uh, uh.
[chuckles] Hey! Ho!
[crescendo building]
[music ends]
Yeah. You see how it comes in the middle of it?
That's a good vibe too.
Ahh! And then you switch your note, "di-dit-dit."
Cool.
[music slowly building]
After a while. After a while. Bask in it, then let it live.
Everybody wanna live free.
[Batiste] I haven't been able to turn my mind off, man.
Three days, I probably haven't slept.
Oh, my gosh.
A lot of anxiety.
I've gotta get to sleep somehow.
In recent years, I've struggled with anxiety and panic attacks.
I remember one day, I thought my heart was gonna stop.
I didn't realize what it was.
Maybe it's the nerves.
Maybe it's the hospital couch.
Maybe it's all of the pressure.
Oh, oh, my gosh.
Maybe it's the stakes of this piece getting done.
Stakes of representing your race and your culture.
Stakes of living up to the ideas and creative potential
that have been put in you.
[groans]
Mm. Whoof.
You gotta put some pressure on it sometime.
[woman] It's lonely-- This place is so lonely without the paintings.
[Jaouad] Mom, have these five weeks felt long to you?
Or have they flown by?
[mom] They are timeless.
I have no idea how much time.
-[Jaouad] Has passed. -Could be five years.
-Could be five hours. -That's true.
[Jaouad] Overwhelming for you?
-Jon? Yeah. -[Batiste] I don't know how it felt yet.
I'll let you know in five years.
[laughs] Exactly.
[Jaouad] You're meant to return from the hardest moments of your life
stronger and braver,
and more of a warrior for what you've been through.
I don't want to have tough skin.
I want to feel the things that are happening to me.
The terrible things. The beautiful things.
I wanna be open to it all.
[all clapping and cheering]
[murmuring]
You're so kind, thank you.
Thank you.
[all] Whoo!
Thank you. That is so sweet.
[poignant music playing]
That's so nice.
[man over computer] Incredible again, all those Grammy nominations.
Also across such a broad number of categories.
Value is not defined by awards, but I'd sure like to win some. [laughs]
The way you come across is kind of a very wholesome
very optimistic, very positive.
Is it important to you to exude that kind of positivity?
Something that you are representing for a reason.
I think it's natural and I think people want that.
So I always-- You know, whatever I'm putting out there,
even in this interview talking to you,
me and you-- I'm grateful to be here.
I'm grateful to be able to have these words memorialized
and whatever that's gonna do in the world, I believe that has a serious impact,
and I want that impact to lead to joy.
♪ Say it's all right ♪
I want the impact to lead to someone being uplifted or healed.
That's a real thing. That's very real.
But they also have Black people cooning and mugging for the camera,
and smiling and dancing for centuries and that was all people could see them as.
So we really have a psychosis
in terms of how we perceive Black entertainers and Black intellectuals.
We have something to actually overcome, in order to understand
the full range of what they offer to the world.
And sometimes we don't see that until after the fact.
So it's important that I also state that too.
♪ Feeling sad like so many of us do ♪
♪ Just hum a little soul ♪
♪ Make life your goal ♪
♪ And surely something's Got to come to you ♪
[female reporter] Music in all of its forms will be celebrated
at the 64th annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas tonight.
[female reporter 2] The most nominated artist, Jon Batiste…
[Jaouad]Look at that suit!
[Batiste on the phone] I don't know what's happening.
I'm just like… being moved around.
[Jaouad] All right, well you guys stay in your zone and stay focused.
Meditate, pray, focus.
I can't wait.
The performance, the job is not finished.
The job is not finished.
[announcer, indistinct over PA]
[indistinct chatter]
-[mother] Your afternoon ones? -[Jaouad] No, my evening ones,
I took my afternoon ones a few hours ago.
I'm trying to figure out how to lessen the pill burden at night.
So I don't take them all close together.
[mother] Yeah, but it's supposed to be this continuous thing
in your body, though.
[Noah] Our next performer is up for more Grammys
than any other artist this year.
He's already won four awards, just today
and he's still up for Record and Album of The Year.
Here to show us why, is the one and only Jon Batiste.
[applause]
Oh, my God. This is beautiful.
[chorus singing]
♪ When I move my body just like this ♪
♪ I don't know why But I feel like freedom ♪
♪ I hear a song that takes me back ♪
♪ And I let go with so much freedom ♪
-♪ Free to live ♪ -♪ How I wanna live ♪
-♪ And I'm gon' get ♪ -♪ Where I'm gonna get ♪
♪ 'Cause it's my freedom ♪
Those dresses are amazing.
♪ The reason we get down Is to get back up ♪
♪ If someone's around Go on let them look ♪
♪ You can't stand still This ain't no drill ♪
♪ More than cheap thrills ♪
♪ Feels like money, money, Money, money, money, money ♪
That's so good.
[Batiste] Everybody get up off your seat.
♪ Let me see you wobble ♪
♪ Let me see you shake ♪
I want you to touch the screen right now and get your blessing.
And submit to your--
Oww!
♪ Music makes you free ♪
♪ Oh, yeah, oh, yeah ♪
♪ Let me see you wobble ♪
I need you to know
if nobody ever gave
permission to be who you are…
…I'm giving it to you right now.
Be yourself.
♪ Music makes you free, yeah ♪
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
♪ When I move my body just like this ♪
♪ I don't know why but I feel like ♪
♪ Freedom ♪
-[applause and cheering] -[microphone thudding]
[Jaouad] Hands down. He got everybody up on their feet.
[woman] That was New Orleans at its finest, right?
He won the Grammy.
[indistinguishable conversation]
[applause continues]
-[Kravitz] Good evening and let love rule. -Here it comes.
It's really tough competition.
[Kravitz] For well over half a century
albums have given artists the space to share their inspired expressions.
This music can become an intimate part of our lives,
narrating and transforming the culture.
Here are ten artists who have given us the best of their creativity.
[Jaouad] He's already won. That's the thing.
Four Grammys is a lot.
[Kravitz] And the Grammy goes to…
We Are! Jon Batiste!
[applause and cheering]
-Whee-hoo. -[woman] Oh, my God.
That is unbelievable.
Hey!
Wow.
Are you going to marry him now?
[Jaouad] I already did.
[Batiste] Wow.
Thank you.
[woman] Holy shit.
You know, I-I really-- I believe this to my core.
There is no best musician,
best artist, best dancer, best actor.
The creative arts are…
…subjective,
and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most.
It's like a song or an album is made
and it almost has a radar to find the person when they need it the most.
[applause]
I mean, man…
I'd like to thank God. I just put my head down
and I work on the craft every day, I love music,
I've been playing since I was a little boy.
It's more than entertainment for me, it's a spiritual practice.
And, um, this is for real artists, real musicians,
Let's just keep going. Be you. That's it.
I love you, even if I don't know you. Good night! Hey!
[applause]
[Noah] Jon Batiste!
A winner once again. Congratulations.
-All right! -[indistinct happy shouting]
[yelling]
[indistinct chatter]
[all yelling]
Yeah! Whoo!
[photographer] Beautiful. Can you make that gold?
-[man] You got it. -[woman] You got it, Jon.
[indistinct chatter]
[photographer] Put that here, and then we're gonna…
Yeah.
[chatter continues outside]
[man] Jon do you want to sign some autographs…?
[woman] Jon, can you sign, please, honey?
[woman] The Grammys were in Vegas over the weekend.
[man] Cool to my guy, Jon Batiste, man, that's a great brother right there,
real musician, won Album of The Year.
[man] What are we to make of this, dare I say, perverse thing
that happened on the Grammys?
He beat out Billie Eilish for Album of The Year…
-[man 2] Yeah. -[man] …beat out Lil Nas X,
These were albums that people listened to.
[woman] Jean Batiste gave us a performance we would have seen on The Ellen Show.
This man seems like he's stuck in, like, the Pharrell "Happy" video.
And I have no disrespect, I think he's a wonderful…
[man 3] You know it's the first time a Black artist won Album of The Year
-for 14 years, you all know that, right? -[woman] What? Really?
It's a lot of patent leather and, like, it could use a little…
I only have leather that absorbs.
[Batiste] Oh, I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry, too, I mean…
-That's okay, I'll come to you… -I wouldn't be doing you any--
…next time around.
I wouldn't be doing you any justice and I use the best,
-just cream polishes, no waxes. -[Batiste] Oh…
-Well, next time, don't worry about it. -Yeah, okay.
Thank you so much.
I'm just hanging out on your shoe shine--
Are you a celebrity?
-What's uh-- -You got a camera man.
Yeah, he's a great, great friend of mine.
-Just filming us, hanging out. -Okay.
-What do you do? -I'm a musician.
-Are you? -Yeah.
Right on. Yeah, we did a…
-We did a performance last night. -[man] Your performance last night
-was epic. -At the Grammy Awards.
-Oh, thank you. -We were there last night.
-Oh, amazing. -It was epic.
-Oh, thank you. -[woman] We were blown away, really were.
-Thank you for-- -Yeah, the showmanship is bar none.
Is this-- Is this you?
-Oh, yeah. -You're on the front page.
-There you go. -[laughing]
Anyway, we don't want to bother you, but great.
-Pleasure, have a good one. -Have a good rest of your day.
Nice to meet you.
It won't cost you nothing, but I can use this on patent leather.
Oh, yeah. It's okay, don't worry about it.
I can do it.
-Are you sure? -Yeah.
-Great job last night. -[Batiste] Thank you.
[trading kisses]
-Yeah. -All right.
All right, all right.
-Whoo! -Bless you, brother.
Bada, Bada!
The winners, the winners.
-Congratulations. -Yes, indeed, thank you.
[indistinct chatter]
Wow.
[Batiste] Everybody's on their own journey.
We're all moving towards our ultimate destination.
You know, the world defines you.
Great success, great failure.
You know, her health is failing,
her book is on the New York Times bestseller list.
That's her journey.
I win five Grammys, Album of The Year.
Biggest prize in music. Come home.
She's back in the hospital.
This is what we're dealing with.
[monitor beeping]
[grunts softly]
[sighs]
All up in my ribcage.
Will you help me get set back up?
-Mm. -Will you help me?
Okay.
-I want the tables and the paints. -Mm-hm.
Thank you.
-[in French] See you tonight? -Mm?
[in French] I'll see you tonight?
What time?
Later?
[chuckles] I'll see you tonight.
[trumpet playing]
[trumpet and piano playing]
[Batiste] Oh!
Oh, that A-flat-- [vocalizes refrain]
Play-- Ooh, ooh. Play the melody, down an octave, let me hear that.
[trumpet resumes]
[guitars and trumpet playing]
[chuckles] How do you feel about it?
-[musician] I like it. -Great.
So let's try it one more time, then we'll record it.
[orchestra playing together]
Yeah, play that with authority.
Yeah. Wild West, abandon. You a cowboy.
You ain't afraid. Yeah.
-[man] Jon, over here. -[Batiste] Boom. I got it right here.
-Hey. -[man] Hey, Jon, over here, please?
[indistinct overlapping voices]
Whoo!
Mr. Batiste, may we do a jump shot?
Yeah, brother. [vocalizing]
[Batiste] Man, I didn't even want to be famous.
Never making music with that intention.
That's the vibe.
Even though I'm grateful for it,
if I was to go up more levels in fame,
it's just more stuff to take you away from your family.
and your people.
-It's a tough crowd to move along -I know.
-I'm relying on you. -[laughs] I'm gonna shake it up.
[Batiste] You gotta protect that ambition from taking over.
It'll be, like, this size, maybe a little bigger.
And I want to do a checkerboard effect.
Gotta protect it from becoming the primary way
that you relate to yourself and to your loved ones.
[chuckles] It's like you're living a double life or something.
[lush orchestral music playing]
-[doctor] Hello! Hello, hi. -[Jaouad] Hi, Dr. Charles.
-How are you? -[female doctor] We're back.
I'm here, I'm happy, I'm happy to be here.
-Oh, good. -How are you?
I'm doing okay.
Ahh.
So, the first issue is how's the graft working?
Well, what's the bone marrow looking like?
The marrow looks wonderful
and we didn't see a leukemia cell, so that means a complete remission.
-[Jaouad] Great. -Which is good.
-Let's go over the issues, young lady. -Uh-oh.
-Positive thoughts, positive thoughts. -Okay. Brave.
Would this remission last five years
and then come back again? The answer is we don't know.
What are we doing differently? This time we're not stopping the A's.
You're taking it as long as it works.
-[Jaouad] So chemo forever? -Yeah.
[Dr. Charles] Ninety percent about this is managing risk.
-Yeah. -Is it worth for you
-to take a risk, right? -Got it.
So, I mean, there will be points that
you'll have to make the decision about,
"I am going to expose myself to 1,000 people here."
You're doing this to live, not to survive, okay?
You live every day as if it were the last day of your life.
You are so unique, the numbers are meaningless to you.
Okay.
[Batiste] What's the biopsy schedule?
[Dr. Charles] Six month, nine month, 12 month,
and then probably every six months.
And at year five, we can negotiate.
You look worried.
No, no, no, I think I'm-- I'm okay.
I think the idea of doing Chemo indefinitely feels--
-The word indefinitely feels daunting. -[female doctor] I know.
[Dr. Charles] Hey, we don't have to, remember.
-No, no, no-- -It's not the tenth commandment, right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-We do what feels right. -Right.
But I think it's… it's important to budget.
This is what I'm gonna do, but remember,
only fools and dead people don't change their minds,
so you can change your mind and I can change my mind.
Yeah… and I'm okay, I just…
[mother] And you have had people doing this indefinitely
who have good quality of life and get used…
[somber piano playing]
[woman on phone] How are you doing as far as your faith
in everything right now?
[Batiste] I have faith that everything can change.
I have faith that everything is changing.
God giveth and God can take away.
In a second.
It can all go.
Obviously, there are things that I would like to be different.
But I think I'm more just coming into the realization
of what genuine acceptance is
and genuine gratitude.
And there's an urgency to that realization.
Okay. How have you been processing this?
There's a choice… that has crept upon me,
to be made in this moment,
that has nothing to do with the things that people can see on the outside.
That's not easy.
It takes an absence of fear…
[Colbert] I've got news about our dear friend, Jon Batiste.
Jon has decided to leave the show.
-[audience] Aww… -I know.
I feel the same way.
And he's gonna take a little personal time, as well he should,
for all the best reasons…
[woman] Jon Batiste has "American Symphony" at Carnegie…
[man] Jon Batiste, who is a Perspectives Artist here at…
[woman] …will be a, quote, "Culmination of more than a century
of Black brilliance" in this piece.
The Oscar-winning composer salutes musical visionaries such as
Duke Ellington, James Reese Europe, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone,
who once performed at Carnegie.
[heavy rhythmic breathing]
[Batiste] Yeah.
[applause]
[host] Good evening.
Good evening, good evening, good evening.
[recording of a piano plays]
[host, muffled] Welcome to Carnegie Hall!
Isn't this place amazing?
[applause]
[host continues speaking, muffled]
-[knocking on door] -[host] Are we about ready?
[applause and cheering]
This is my first time out in almost a year.
[host] Are you guys ready for the man of the moment?
-[applause] -[orchestral fanfare playing]
The maestro.
King of New Orleans.
Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together…
for Jon Batiste and the American Symphony!
[cheering]
Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Ah!
[Batiste laughs] Woo! Yeah!
All right, now.
Hey!
Hello!
Thank you!
Ha-ha!
Hey!
Ah!
Man!
Ready to hit 'em?
[Batiste chuckles]
[music starts]
Have some fun with it.
[narrator] Dawn, day, to dusk
The night becomes forever
But we shall overcome
Dawn, day, to dusk
[piano motif starts]
♪ Dawn, day, to dusk ♪
♪ The night it comes for us ♪
♪ But we shall overcome ♪
[applause and cheering]
[indistinct overlapping voices]
[piano playing]
[siren wailing]
[man] Power went out.
[piano plays faintly]
[man 2] Power's out.
[man 3] Power's out on stage.
The power's out.
[piano continues]
[man] Power's still out.
[silence]
[piano resumes]
[piano building in intensity]
[begins playing discordant notes]
[applause]
[woman] Check your earpiece. The power's back.
♪ Where there ♪
♪ Is sorrow ♪
♪ We will find the joy ♪
♪ Ever my sorrow ♪
♪ Has cried ♪
♪ Yet on the wings of my Lord ♪
♪ I rise ♪
♪ To that mountain top ♪
♪ Where the light resides ♪
♪ The sun it shines ♪
♪ So bright ♪
♪ And a song ♪
♪ Is always ♪
♪ On my ♪
♪ Mind ♪
[applause and cheering]
[Batiste] Hey, hey!
[piano playing]
See nothing can stop the power of God.
[applause]
[Batiste] Ah-- Oof!
There were so many forces up against this happening.
So many things that came up against this happening.
Even midway through this performance, stuff you don't even know was happening.
And the fact that we are here right now, playing this music,
the whole diaspora of music…
-[applause and cheering] -Whoo! Hoo!
Whoa!
Whoo!
Thank you for bearing witness to this moment with us, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[applause fades, music starts]
♪ Oh, oh, oh-oh ♪
♪ In the water ♪
[vocalizing]
[vocalizing continues]
[vocalizing]
[chorus vocalizing together]
[music crescendos]
[song ends]
[applause erupts]
[applause fades]
[slow piano playing]
["It Never Went Away" by Jon Batiste playing]
♪ It never went away ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ The feeling's just the same ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ Every time I see your face ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ It's never going away ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ Thought I was a wise lad ♪
♪ When you plan, God laughs ♪
♪ Thought I was hot Got a detour along the way ♪
♪ Summertime adventure ♪
♪ That's what we were meant for ♪
♪ I need you ♪
♪ And that's never going to change ♪
♪ It never went away ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ Every time I see your face ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ The feeling's just the same ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ It's never going away ♪
♪ Looking for adventure ♪
♪ That's what we were meant for ♪
♪ I need you ♪
♪ And that's never going to change ♪
♪ It never went away ♪
♪ Oh-oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ Every time I see your face ♪
♪ Oh-oh-oh-ohhh ♪
Whoo!
♪ The feeling's just the same ♪
♪ Oh-oh-oh-ohhh ♪
♪ It's never going away ♪
♪ No, no ♪
♪ Oh-oh-ohhh ♪
[song ends]