Grammy-winning pianist Jon Batiste to make his India debut this November

Batiste’s India debut arrives in the wake of his new and ninth album Big Money (Verve/Interscope) – with bare arrangements and featuring American R&B and soul singer Andra Day and 81-year-old singer and composer Randy Newman. The 32-minute album, rooted in past and merging with the present, also features Petrichor, its climate-conscious piece. It’s a song with a bluesy riff that merges with hip-hop to talk about the environment.

“India’s musical spirit has always inspired me. I’m beyond thrilled to perform in Mumbai and Delhi finally. This tour is about sharing joy, stories and sounds that bring us together and I can’t wait to experience that magic with all of you in India,” Batiste said in a statement.

Batiste grew up in a musical Catholic family in Louisiana. He began playing percussion but moved to the piano at the age of 11 on his mother’s advice. He soon blossomed on the piano, transcribing video-game soundtracks quickly. After studying at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and his debut album Times in New Orleans, which he released at 17, Batiste went to the prestigious Juilliard School and got a bachelor’s and master’s in jazz studies. He released his second album, Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art, while he was still at Juilliard. After being a featured artiste all over the world and becoming a star in the world of jazz, he composed music for Pixar’s Soul (2020) with composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, winning the Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score. He earned eight Grammy nominations for his fifth album, We Are (2021) and three for Soul in the same year, picking up five gramophones that night. His album Beethoven Blues, a piano album wherein he reimagined the music of the famed German composer and father of the Romantic era, found much attention in 2024. In 2022, he made his orchestral debut at the famed Carnegie Hall with American Symphony; the preparation of it took place while his wife battled leukaemia. It is also the title of the 2023 documentary, based on his life, which was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.