Jonathan Batiste

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Jonathan Batiste


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Born = birth date and age|1986|11|11
Origin = Kenner, Louisiana, U.S.
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Instrument = piano, melodica, Hammond Organ
Genre = Jazz, Funk, Hip hop, Classical
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Years_active = 1998 — Present
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URL = http://www.jonathanbatiste.com
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Jonathan Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is a pianist, composer, and bandleader from Kenner, Louisiana, United States.

Biography

Jonathan is a member of a long lineage of musicians from the Batiste family of Louisiana. He was introduced to music by his families band, the Batiste Brothers Band, in which he played percussion/drums in at age 8. He switched to piano around the age of 12.

By the age of 17, he released his first of his two CD's as a leader entitled "Times In New Orleans" featuring New Orleans musicians including Jason Marsalis, Donald Harrison Jr. and Christian Scott. By then he was already attracting considerable attention as a young musician of great talent and potential. In 2004 he graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) as a primer young performer. He then went on to study at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.

In 2005 Batiste made his debut at Carnegie Hall and began performing regularly around the New York music scene with his trio, including bassist Phil Kuehn and drummer Joe Saylor.

In 2006 he received the "Movado Future Legend Award", being the first and only to receive the honor for jazz. Prior to the honor, Jonathan had already released his second CD "Live In New York: At The Rubin Museum Of Art". Closing out 2006, Batiste had already been a featured performer in South Africa, London, Lisbon, Spain, Paris, and the U.S..

In 2007 he made his debut at the world renowned Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), producing and performing his own show. In addition to the show, he also conducted music clinics/master classes and workshops throughout all of Holland in inner city schools and underprivileged neighborhoods. As a result, he was invited back to Carnegie Hall to produce and perform in his own show. The performance included six young musicians from the Netherlands in which Batiste composed music to feature within the program. The performance concluded with a epic finale he composed for choir, jazz combo, and orchestral instruments. It was viewed as a hugely successful cultural exchange and garnered national attention.

Starting off 2008, Batiste was a featured member of the 2008 NBA All-Star Game Halftime show. Batiste was the youngest artist alongside Allen Toussaint, Harry Connick Jr., Dr. John, Ellis Marsalis, Art Neville, Ivan Neville, and Davell Crawford.

He has chosen the melodica as a current focus. Adopting it as one of his signatures, he has already helped to further popularize the instrument.

As of today, Batiste works on many artistic endeavors in addition to live performance which include collaborative projects with actors/actresses, dancers, artists and contemporary music artist of his generation. These projects are all independently produced. He is also an active educator.

Discography

*"Times in New Orleans" (2005)
*"Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art" (2006)
*"In the Night" EP (2008)

Reference

*cite web| last = Martel | first = Brett | title = New Orleans tourism gets boost from NBA All-Star game | publisher = USA Today | url = http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-02-18-new-orleans-all-star-game_N.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-07
*cite web| title = Movado - About Movado | publisher = movado.com | url = http://www.movado.com/futurelegends | accessdate = 2008-04-07
*cite web| last = Kozinn | first = Allan | title = Mystical to Muscular: Many Styles in Play at a Keyboard Marathon | publisher = The New York Times | date = January 23 2008 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/arts/music/23pian.html?_r=3&ref=music&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin | accessdate = 2008-04-07
*cite web| last = Pogrebin | first = Robin | title = Louisiana Extols Culture in Recovery | publisher = The New York Times | date = March 26 2008 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/arts/26arts-LOUISIANAEXT_BRF.html?scp=1&sq=jonathan+baptiste&st=nyt | accessdate = 2008-04-13

External links

* [http://www.jonathanbatiste.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jonathanbatiste Jonathan Batiste, Myspace Page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/jonbatistetv JonBatisteTV] on YouTube