Latest Jon Batiste News

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16

Nov. 04, 2024 10:37 AM EST

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16: Nov. 10: Blues singer Bobby Rush is 90. Actor Albert Hall (“Ally McBeal,” ″Beloved”) is 87. Country singer Donna Fargo is 83. Lyricist Tim Rice is 80. Actor Jack Scalia is 74. Director Roland Emmerich (“The Patriot,”...

Kate McKinnon to host National Book Awards next month. Jon Batiste will perform live

Oct. 17, 2024 10:26 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — This year's National Book Awards 75th anniversary ceremony won't only be a tribute to literature. Expect some laughs and some music, too. The National Book Foundation announced Thursday that Kate McKinnon of “Saturday Night Live" fame will host the Nov. 20 event...

Jon Batiste's 'Beethoven Blues' transforms classical works into unique blues and gospel renditions

Oct. 09, 2024 08:33 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — When Grammy-award winner Jon Batiste was a kid, say, 9 or 10 years old, he moved between musical worlds — participating in local, classical piano competitions by day, then “gigging in night haunts in the heart of New Orleans.” Free from the rigidity of genre,...

Civil society groups nudge and cajole world leaders from the sidelines of United Nations week

Sep. 27, 2024 17:26 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — As the meeting of world leaders kicked off at the United Nations on Sunday, across Manhattan on an elevated park that runs along old rail lines, throngs of people streamed through a “climate science fair” showcasing work on nature, food and the energy transition. ...