Artist: Jon Batiste
Album: Christmas with Jon Batiste
Genre: Jazz-Pop, Soul, Holiday
Label: Naht Jona
Released: 2016
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
- Endless Love (ft. Aloe Blacc)
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman (ft. Judith Hill)
- I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
- Winter Wonderland (ft. Jason Marsalis)
- Silent Night (ft. Lee England Jr.)
- Joy to the World
- O Tannenbaum
- Joy. Faith. Love. Rest. (ft. Infinity Song)
- Hark the Herald Angels Sing (ft. Infinity Song)
- What Child Is This (ft. Eric Gales)
- Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (ft. Sean Jones)
- Christmas in Barcelona
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Jon Batiste has two big gigs –- he's the band director for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and he's an artistic director at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. And now, he also has his very own holiday album: Christmas With Jon Batiste.
There are so many iconic Christmas albums — from artists like Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Elvis. Batiste knew he had to differentiate himself somehow, and he says he was up to the challenge, eager to rearrange classic songs in unexpected ways. "I love remixing things and making them fit into a different context than what you imagined," he says. "Like taking 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' and putting it in the context of Rosetta Tharpe church with a bluegrass banjo and a soul singer like Judith Hill."
Batiste says this kind of reimagining is central to his creative process. "I oftentimes choose songs ... that you would not imagine could be funkified or taken into a new sphere –- and do exactly that," he says.
The pianist's connection to this project extends beyond the creative opportunities it presented. He comes from a deeply religious family, and he says he feels a spiritual connection to Christmas music. "These songs, to me, are sacred, because they're basically in line with my faith and everything that I believe in," he says.
Batiste's family is legendary in the Louisiana jazz world. He was just 8 years old when he played his first show with the Batiste Brothers Band. "It wasn't as if we were pressured to be musicians," he says. "It's just kind of a part of the culture — so much so that when you're born in New Orleans, you're either gonna get a trumpet or a piano or a drum."