Jon Batiste's "Big Money" Is Just What You Need Right Now

 

April 2004, it's Jazz Fest, it's hot, and The Funky Butt in New Orleans is jam packed. There are so many people crowding the stage area, David Torkanowsky is climbing through the French windows that open onto Rampart Street to get to his piano inside the club. My friend Maurice Brown is holding court, with a band that includes Terence Higgins on drums, Devin Phillips on sax, and an 18 year old kid named Jonathan Batiste playing the organ next to Tork's piano. It's showtime and it only takes minutes into the set to realize I will be witness to an all timer. And no one is impressing me more than Jonathan Batiste. 

April 2006, First Jazz Fest after Katrina, Jonathan Batiste plays his first headlining set in the Jazz Tent. Emotions were high that weekend, as you can imagine. Standing in the food line for some gumbo or a po'boy made people cry, because just months ago, they didn't think they'd ever be doing it again. And Batiste's set absolutely smoked. 

 

I took notes that year, all of which you will find in the New Orleans chapter of my upcoming book, "Listening Right: A Life Led By Music From Soho To Sheepshead Bay." Here's what I had to say about Jon Batiste-

 

"The next stop was the Jazz Tent for what could already be the performance of the trip. 20 year old, homegrown Jonathan Batiste was making his Jazz Fest debut as a leader with his trio. A mix of Oscar Peterson swing with Professor Longhair's attack, always sounding like Monk. As my friend Dan pointed out, "This is all Monk, man, only you can hear ALL the notes." Outstanding. Batiste brought the house down for the first official Jazz Fest Moment of 2006." 

 

20 years later, everyone knows Jon Batiste. He is a rock star and deservedly so. His successful run of Grammy winning releases covers a lot of ground. I've enjoyed them all, though the little heard 2007 release "Live In New York: At The Rubin Museum" remains my favorite. It's how I like Jon best, in a trio setting with nothing but his genius behind the piano. 

 

 

 

But now, we have "Big Money, his just released new record on the Verve label. It comes in at a svelte 32 minutes and it is quite the set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Batiste has jumped genres since the beginning, but never as comfortably as he does on "Big Money." From the gorgeous R&B burner that opens things up, a duet with Andra Day called "Lean On My Love," to the country gospel raves of "Pinnacle" and the title track, "Big Money" wastes none of it. And if you want to hear Jon play the piano, listen to "Do It All Again," or what might end up being my favorite song of the year, "Maybe," a chilling, one take heartbreak stunner, that left me frozen. When I said that to Jon, he said, "I sat down and let that song flow through me onto the tape." 

 

I knew it. I felt it as I was listening. It has a primal Lennon/Plastic Ono Band vibe to it. "Maybe" is special, and so is "Big Money."

 

The back of the album cover says "All songs recorded live. The Band and vocal peformances were all captured together in the same room, at the same time, to maximize connectivity and expression."

 

It worked, because I felt connected to this music immediately. 

 

I am often asked about my favorite New Orleans records. I can create a long list from Dr. John and Irma Thomas to James Booker, Stanton Moore and Jon Cleary. But as great as all of those recordings are, they can never replace the magic of seeing and hearing this music in person, in New Orleans. Jon Batiste's "Big Money" is the closest I've been to New Orleans without leaving my home in New York City. I can't say for sure if that is what Jon intended. But maybe because it is in his blood, the outcome was inevitable. Or maybe it's because, it's just what I needed right now.

 

We all need this record right now.