Jon Batiste is more than just his piano.
That much was apparent during his festive show on the fairgrounds at the Salt Shed Thursday night. Batiste, a multifaceted singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, is perhaps best known for being the leader of the band on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Batiste had a robust music career prior to taking on that role, releasing three full-length studio records as well as a live album, multiple EPs and a collaborative record. But Batiste’s time on “The Late Show” introduced the musician to a wider audience, one that’s deeply interested in the melange of genres that define his music.
During Thursday night’s show in Chicago on his Uneasy Tour, Batiste and his vivacious backing band explored a number of these sounds, working their way through bits and pieces of his robust catalog as well as a smattering of covers. The lively evening gave Batiste the opportunity to soar as the real showman that he is.
He first took to the stage in a shiny gold suit, like a millennial James Brown, to perform the track “Raindance,” off of his 2023 album “World Music Radio.” The audience of fans, largely Gen X folks and millennials (with a sprinkling of toddlers sporting noise-canceling headphones), respectfully rushed to the front of the general admission area to get a closer look at the musician and dance.
“Everybody give me that soul clap … spiritual rain … soul rain,” Batiste told the audience at one point. The crowd cheered. That seemed to be the directive of the evening. The weather was perfect, the skies were clear and people were in a good mood. Why not let loose and have a little fun?
“We should be shining and flowing all the time,” Batiste said. The audience got the memo, joining in on Batiste’s revelry and classic showmanship. If before he was on the sidelines, now Batiste is front and center, as he was always meant to be. It was glorious to witness.
During “Worship,” Batiste leaned into this, building the track’s intricate electronic instrumentation, synthesizers and keyboard notes on his own. It was a subtle reminder that while Batiste may now be dancing across the stage with a mic in his hand, his heart is still in the raw making of the music. After imploring the audience to clap to a song break, Batiste broke out into what could best be described as a musical, secular sermon.
“By the divine logic of the universe, we have a binding contract not to continue to move on in the show unless everybody here sings from the deepest, brightest, most beautiful essence of their soul being right now,” said Batiste.
What I loved most about the moments like these was how keenly attuned Batiste is to what his audience needs to hear to lean into the joy and beauty of his music. He is just as good at orchestrating the instrumentation of his songs as he is at orchestrating the mood of his shows.
This continued throughout the evening as Batiste performed other tracks off of “World Music Radio” like “Be Who You Are” and “Butterfly”, as well as selections like the bluesy “FREEDOM” and the Little Richard-like social message song “I NEED YOU” from his 2021 release, “WE ARE.”
Yet despite all of this action, Batiste still left room to focus on some of his simpler tracks just on the piano. After an outfit change into a black T-shirt and jeans, Batiste came back on stage to perform a piano medley which included a cover of “Blueberry Hill” and what sounded like DeBarge’s “A Dream.” With his head thrown back and a large smile on his face, he seemed taken over with rapturous joy, as if he was in his own little world.
Batiste is a great entertainer, but first and foremost, he is a musician’s musician, one who can easily slip into the various greats of the American Songbook, funk, soul, blues, rock and everything in between with ease. It is all beloved by Batiste. Watching him close out his set, I was reminded of something he said earlier in the night. “This is not just music for me,” he began. “This is a spiritual practice.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.
