Jon Batiste: ‘Black Mozart’

One of the finest pianists of our generation, Jon Batiste is releasing the second instalment in his ongoing piano series - ‘Black Mozart’.

Black Mozart begins supremely with Facile and from the opening bars, the Mozart composition bears the mark of Batiste. Each piece on the album takes this pre-eminent classical music and brings it into the jazz-adjacent sphere with a stunning a depth of knowledge and understanding.

Talking about Mozart, Batiste says: “He … absorbed everything that led to him and was the obvious successor of Johann Sebastian Bach. Both were keyboardists, supreme improvisers, providers of melody in all registers and purveyors of the percussive left hand. If Bach was a foundation, Mozart was a bridge that eventually led to the modern age. … I reimagined Mozart ‘Black,’ imbuing it with influences from jazz, rags, stride, blues, and stomps but still maintaining its core essence of modern classical music.”

For many people, this album would be the perfect introduction to both classical and jazz music. Those almost imperceptible jazz touches add so much to the beauty of the originals.

Batiste really is at the top of his game. We Are won the 2021 Grammy Album of the Year, while his work on Pixar’s Soul earned him an Oscar and Emmy. He has collaborated with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Prince to Beyonce, Lana Del Rey and Willie Nelson. He’s known in the UK as judge on Channel 4’s The Piano, where new pianists are invited to perform on public pianos.

Black Mozart follows Beethoven Blues, and soon to be released in the Piano Series are Monk Meditations and Monk Movements.

Listen out particularly for stunning arrangements of Twinkle (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) and the divine Gospel Andante. Short combinations of the classical original with jazz infusions, every track on this album is a joy.

Jon Batiste: ‘Black Mozart ‘ (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 2) is out on 29 June via Decca Records US