Key Facts

• Jon Batiste was the bandleader on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert.
• He uses instruments like the melodica and enjoys improvising music.
• Batiste combines many styles, including jazz, classical, folk, and pop, in his work.
• He calls his style "social music," which aims to unite people through sound.
• He started the idea of "love riots" while studying at Juilliard, using music to bring people together in unusual spaces like subway cars.
• These subway concerts turn usually quiet and somber places into lively, joyful experiences.
• Batiste records and improvises music in Electric Lady Studios, a famous recording studio in New York.
• He believes music creates a feeling of belonging and hope, connecting people from different times and places.