Why the Grammys Couldn’t Resist Jon Batiste - The New York Times

The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun, blending genres and embodying the pleasures of his hometown, New Orleans.

Some of the music on We Are pulls its acoustic-funk aesthetic from the 1960s, but other parts recall the 1990s, that pre-9/11 moment when Keb Mo was becoming a Grammy favorite, and Starbucks-curated … [+2433 chars]

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