The young pianist Jonathan Batiste hails from one of the renowned musical families of New Orleans. He played in various family bands and with the clarinetist Alvin Batiste. At age 17, he moved to New York to study at the Julliard School of Music while pursuing a career as a sideman with Roy Hargrove, Cassandra Wilson and Wynton Marsalis among others. Now he leads the Stay Human band, and serves as associate artistic director of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. In this interview, he discusses his family's musical roots, taking the music to a higher level, and fitting himself into the New York jazz scene.
