Jon Batiste Reveals His Eclectic Musical Tastes Without Apology

Jon Batiste, the renowned musician and former bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has never been one to apologise for his diverse musical preferences. From punk to classical compositions, the Grammy-winning artist celebrates everything that resonates with him, refusing to engage in what he calls “song shaming”. In a frank conversation, Batiste reveals the songs that have influenced his life and artistic journey – ranging from the funk grooves of Clarence Carter to the experimental soundscapes of Björk, and even the raw energy of Australian punk group Amyl and the Sniffers. His playlist paints a picture of a musician unafraid of champion the full spectrum of music, whether it’s a Bach masterpiece or a track he’d prefer to keep private from his peers.

The Foundational Years: Family, Jazz and Initial Exploration

Batiste’s musical roots was formed not in performance venues or formal institutions, but in his family home, where his father’s vinyl collection provided the musical backdrop to his early years. Brought up in New Orleans, he was exposed to a remarkable range of sounds – from the soulful and funky music his dad would play to the carefully curated jazz albums his Uncle Thomas would provide him with. These were not arbitrary choices; they were intentional exposures to the greats of American music, musicians who would serve as the foundations of his artistic philosophy. Combined with the secular music came religious instruction, with sermons and religious recordings woven into his formative musical exposure, producing a distinctive fusion of material and religious understanding.

This early exposure to varied musical styles instilled in Batiste a sense that music surpasses genre boundaries and commercial labelling. His uncle’s carefully chosen recordings – including Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Louis Armstrong and Ray Charles – proved that musical excellence could be located across varying genres and time periods. Rather than being encouraged to favour one genre over another, young Batiste developed the ability to appreciate the craft and emotion behind each rendition. This foundational lesson would become central to his professional relationship with music, enabling him to move effortlessly from classical piano, jazz improvisation and contemporary sounds without ever needing to justify his choices to critics or peers.

• Father regularly played soul and funk records at home regularly
• Uncle Thomas sent religious and jazz sermons
• Formative influences included Armstrong, Peterson and Ray Charles
• Spiritual and secular music shaped his artistic worldview

From Blockbuster Dumpsters to Grammy Triumph

Before Jon Batiste grew into an acclaimed Grammy-winning musician and bandleader for The Late Show, he was a teenager hunting through bargain bins at Blockbuster Video, looking for pre-owned CDs that resonated with his eclectic ear. These weren’t impulse purchases driven by radio play or chart positions; they were deliberate acquisitions of records embodying musical quality across wildly different musical landscapes. The records he selected during this formative period – carefully selected from discount bins – would prove to be strikingly accurate reflections of the varied musical taste he would support across his career. What might have seemed like an distinctive mix of acquisitions to fellow customers truly demonstrated a teenager already assured in his own taste and resistant to conforming to narrow genre expectations.

This span of musical discovery, undertaken in the unremarkable location of a video rental store’s discount area, turned out crucial to Batiste’s creative growth. Rather than simply accepting whatever proved popular or easily accessible, he deliberately pursued particular musicians and albums, displaying an intellectual autonomy that would define his musical philosophy across his lifetime. The Blockbuster bins served as his own education, where he could try out diverse genres and build a grounding in music that encompassed soul, experimental pop, hip-hop and R&B. These early purchases weren’t just entertainment; they were investments in comprehending the full spectrum of modern music, knowledge that would shape every artistic choice he would take in the future.

The Files That Began Everything

The four records Batiste obtained during this pivotal time demonstrate the refined musical sensibilities of a youthful music enthusiast already unafraid to mix genres and styles. Michael Jackson’s Dangerous exemplified the architectural brilliance of pop music, whilst Björk’s Vespertine offered experimental production and avant-garde sensibilities. Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun and Common’s Like Water for Chocolate embodied the artistic heights of neo-soul and conscious hip-hop respectively. Together, these four albums created a personal musical canon that celebrated innovation, emotional resonance and musical craftsmanship – values that continue to be central to Batiste’s creative identity and his refusal to apologise for the breadth of his musical interests.

Dismissing Genre Elitism: Why Punk Belongs Alongside Jazz

Batiste’s most striking musical admission comes in his unapologetic embrace of punk music, specifically referencing Amyl and the Sniffers as one of his favourite bands. Rather than treating the style to a guilty pleasure or writing it off as creatively second-rate, he positions punk in conversation with the avant-garde jazz that has defined much of his artistic trajectory. This rejection of what he calls musical gatekeeping represents a essential principle: that creative worth cannot be determined by categorical divisions or critical hierarchies. For Batiste, the issue is not whether a song fits within prescribed categories of refinement, but whether it possesses authentic creative merit and emotional impact.

The relationship Batiste draws between punk and jazz reveals particularly illuminating. Both genres, he suggests, possess an core rhythmic vitality and ethos of innovation that surpasses their superficial distinctions. Punk’s visceral drive and jazz’s adaptive sophistication both necessitate skilled execution, bold artistic choices and an rejection of conformism to commercial expectations. This observation challenges the false dichotomy that often presents “serious” classical or jazz musicians as inherently superior to those who work within rock or punk traditions. Batiste’s body of work has consistently demonstrated that artistic quality exists beyond genre boundaries, and that a genuinely informed audience member identifies quality wherever it emerges, independent of whether it appears on a performance venue stage or a packed underground space.

• Punk music demonstrates raw power akin to progressive jazz creativity
• Musical categories must not determine artistic credibility or listening validity
• Creative worth relies on integrity and emotional authenticity, not categorical classification

The Songs That Defined a Journey

Batiste’s artistic path reveals how particular pieces shape the fabric of our identities, acting as markers of significant turning points and meaningful reference points. His earliest musical memories stem from his father playing Clarence Carter’s Strokin’, a song whose explicit lyrics he absorbed at just eight years old—a crucial exposure to music’s ability to communicate mature themes and desires. These foundational influences were complemented by his Uncle Thomas, who provided him with recordings of jazz legends paired with spiritual sermons, creating a distinctive learning environment where secular and sacred music functioned as equally valid expressions of human experience and understanding.

The records Batiste purchased as a young collector—Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, Björk’s Vespertine, Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun and Common’s Like Water for Chocolate—represent deliberate choices that formed his artistic sensibility. These acquisitions showcase an instinctive attraction to artists who push boundaries who reject easy categorisation. Each album constitutes a different musical universe, yet collectively they expose a listener unconcerned with genre purity or mainstream accessibility. By selecting these particular albums rather than safer, more commercially obvious choices, Batiste was already asserting his commitment to musical authenticity and artistic integrity.

Meaningful Occasions and Emotional Touchstones

Perhaps no single song carries greater significance for Batiste than When the Saints Go Marching In, a traditional New Orleans standard that frames his life philosophy. He performed this song at his grandmother’s funeral, an experience he attributes to fundamentally changing his understanding of music’s spiritual power. The act of playing this particular song in that context—in Louisiana, where his grandmother was laid to rest near Mahalia Jackson—transformed it from a cultural touchstone into a deeply personal spiritual anchor. He has selected it as the song he wishes to be played at his own service, establishing a complete narrative arc of intergenerational connection and musical legacy.

Bach’s Air on the G String embodies a different but equally profound emotional landscape for Batiste. He describes the piece as evoking the sensation of reflecting upon life as its final witness—a reflection about mortality and solitude that he has experienced viscerally whilst playing music in New York subway stations at three in the morning. The late-night city setting—the city gradually quieting—provides the ideal setting for confronting the piece’s existential depth. These emotional foundations show how Batiste harnesses music not just as entertainment but as a means of working through life’s most significant moments and innermost feelings.

The Playlist That Characterises Jon Batiste

Batiste’s musical trajectory reveals a listener who resists being restricted to genre boundaries or industry standards. From the funky rhythms of Clarence Carter that soundtracked his early years to the experimental intensity of punk rock, his musical preferences span decades and styles with unapologetic enthusiasm. What develops is not a random collection of disparate influences but rather a coherent artistic philosophy that values emotional authenticity and sonic innovation above market appeal. Whether discovering records in discount music sections or selecting tracks for his morning alarm, Batiste approaches music with the curiosity of someone who understands that meaningful creative work goes beyond genre boundaries and speaks directly to the human experience.