Jon Batiste is a New Orleans-born musician, composer, and cultural force whose work moves fluidly across jazz, R&B, soul, pop, and classical music with a joyful, genre-defying energy. His album We Are won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year in 2022, while World Music Radio, a concept album starring Batiste as intergalactic griot DJ Billy Bob Bo Bob, earned five additional Grammy nominations. His 2025 album Big Money won the Grammy for Best Americana Album. His ongoing Batiste Piano Series, reimagining Beethoven, Mozart, and Thelonious Monk as Black American classical music, continued on August 14, 2026 with three new albums: Black Mozart, Monk Meditations, and Monk Movements.
