New Releases category interest

Multi-Grammy and Oscar Award winner Jon Batiste today released his latest studio album, Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1), via Verve Records / Interscope / Universal Music Canada.  Marking the first installment in his new solo piano series, the project showcases his interpolations of some of Beethoven’s most iconic works, which he has reimagined through an expansive lens.  In support of the project, Batiste recently visited The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she joined him for an impromptu duet of “Für Elise-Batiste” from the album.  Watch HERE.  Stream/Download Beethoven Blues HERE. 

In conjunction with today’s album release, Batiste debuted the visual for one of the original compositions featured on the album, “Dusklight Movement.”  Watch HERE.   Further showcasing his unique approach to blending Beethoven’s classical compositions with the indomitable spirit of the blues, “Dusklight Movement,” follows previously shared tracks from the album “Für Elise-Batiste,” and “5th Symphony in Congo Square.”  Watch the accompanying music videos for “Für Elise-Batiste” HERE and “5th Symphony in Congo Square” HERE.

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Beethoven Blues is available now on CD, standard black LP, and a webstore-exclusive translucent black ice LP, with limited signed editions available exclusively from Batiste’s webstore.

Offering an expansive reimagining of the composer’s work, Beethoven Blues is a fusion of classical and contemporary styles that embody Batiste’s “message of open-armed inclusivity” (New York Times).  The inspiration for the project gained momentum following a 2023 interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace, where Batiste demonstrated music’s ability to transcend genre borders by transforming Beethoven’s Bagatelle No. 25 (“Für Elise”) at the piano.  The profound response to the clip, which has since garnered over 20 million views, helped signal the timing was right to make this long-held album idea a reality. For years, Batiste has incorporated interpolations of classical music into his albums, TV performances, and live shows, but Beethoven Blues marks the first time he’s dedicated an entire album to this practice.

Beethoven Blues invites listeners into a living, evolving conversation between Batiste and Beethoven, reimagining Beethoven’s timeless compositions through the lens of blues and spontaneous creation. Batiste, who grew up competing in classical piano competitions while gigging in New Orleans, approaches each track not as a mere rendition but as a dialogue, extending Beethoven’s legacy into a fresh musical experience that honors the original while layering it with the soul of jazz and the spirit of blues. The album balances Beethoven’s structural and melodic intricacies with an improvisational freedom, allowing Batiste to reinterpret each piece in real time and embrace the humanity and “blues” that Beethoven might have incorporated if it were a defined genre in his era. Through this series, Batiste is creating a universe of solo piano recordings that transcend the rigidity often associated with classical music, each performance becoming a unique and original work of art, inviting the audience into a communal and transformative listening experience.

The release of Beethoven Blues comes on the heels of Batiste’s recent Grammy nominations for ‘Best Music Film’ on behalf of the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary AMERICAN SYMPHONY and ‘Best Song Written for Visual Media’ for the stunning ballad from the film, “It Never Went Away.”  Produced in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground, the documentary follows Batiste beginning in early 2022, as he celebrates 11 Grammy nominations while undertaking his most ambitious challenge yet: composing an original symphony for Carnegie Hall.  This extraordinary trajectory is upended when his life partner, NYT bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning journalist Suleika Jaouad, learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned.  Batiste, in collaboration with Grammy® Award-winning artist Dan Wilson, wrote and produced the song “It Never Went Away,” from the film, which also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

Batiste has been variously described as “a certified musical genius” (The Guardian), “a protean pianist and megawatt personality” (Variety), and “a once-in-a-generation talent, with a passion for … connecting people through a shared love of music-making” (Classic FM). Born into a long line of Louisiana musicians, he trained as a classical pianist and received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano from New York’s Juilliard School. He now works with students and faculty as an inaugural Juilliard Creative Associate, as well as serving on the Juilliard board. Additionally, Batiste is on the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall as an Artist Trustee.

He returned to his classical roots in the 2021-22 season, when he curated a multi-concert “Perspectives” series at New York’s Carnegie Hall. This was crowned by the world premiere of his American Symphony (2022), a Carnegie Hall commission, on the venue’s main stage. Classical Source welcomed this large-scale orchestral work as “a joyous and beefy blend of orchestral sounds, funk, Dixieland, Latin, gospel, country, cool jazz, swing, hip-hop, RandB, as well as other styles and genres.”

Beethoven Blues follows the success of Batiste’s two most recent studio albums, both of which showcase the breadth and scope of his musicianship. “A concept album that challenges music’s provincial genre borders” (New York Times), World Music Radio (2023) received four Grammy nominations, including one for “Album of the Year,” while the tracks “Worship” and “Butterfly” were nominated for “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year” respectively. Similarly, We Are (2021) made Grammy history, receiving eleven Grammy nominations in seven different categories, and going on to win “Album of the Year” and four more. Other notable successes include the Disney/Pixar film Soul (2020); Batiste’s hands provided the model for the animation of its piano-playing protagonist, while his music for the film won him the 2021 Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, NAACP Image, and Critic’s Choice awards.

A master collaborator, Batiste has worked with artists ranging from pop and jazz icons Beyoncé, Prince, and Herbie Hancock to classical legends Andrea Bocelli, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Bernard Romain, and Chris Thile. In early 2025, he makes his debut on the hit UK TV show The Piano, following Lang Lang as mentor in the BAFTA-nominated Channel 4 series’ third season, which continues the search to find the UK’s best amateur pianists.

Most recently, Batiste contributed the innovative score for Jason Reitman’s film SATURDAY NIGHT, in theaters now.  Depicting the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live in 1975, the film is underscored by Batiste’s musical masterpiece, which features a blend of jazz, classical, and contemporary elements. Batiste composed and produced the music live on the soundstage in front of the cast and crew, perfectly capturing the intensity and unpredictability of the show’s debut episode.

Beethoven Blues Track List:

1. Für Elise-Batiste

2. Symphony No. 5 Stomp

3. Moonlight Sonata Blues

4. Dusklight Movement

5. Seventh Symphony Elegy

6. American Symphony Theme

7. Ode to Joyful

8. 5th Symphony in Congo Square

9. Waldstein Wobble

10. Life of Ludwig

11. Für Elise-Reverie