Jon Batiste — The Club Car, McKittrick Hotel (New York), 2019

Filmed by Jazz Night in America, this live concert captures Jon Batiste performing an intimate birthday show recorded in November 2019 at the Club Car inside New York’s McKittrick Hotel. The New Orleans pianist and bandleader — then musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — gathered his friends and stage companions for a set played in the round, surrounded by the audience. Batiste draws heavily on his two Verve albums from that period, Chronology of a Dream and Anatomy of Angels, moving between personal compositions, jazz standards and loose collective improvisation. His piano playing blends stride, gospel and blues with a pop sensibility and a restless sense of swing. This full concert showcases a tight ensemble — trumpet, tuba, saxophones, upright bass, drums and percussion — serving a warm, communicative brand of jazz. From a playful reworking of If You’re Happy and You Know It to a reading of Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight, the performance offers a faithful portrait of Batiste shortly before his wider Grammy-winning breakthrough. A valuable live document for anyone exploring his sound and his New Orleans roots.