Say hello to the bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: New Orleans-based musician Jon Batiste. CBS revealed the news in a brand new clip, which you can check out above. Read the full press release below, via The Wrap:
Stephen Colbert, host of THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT, today announced masterful musician Jon Batiste will be joining him on CBS’s new late night program as the show’s bandleader. “His music makes the audience feel so good, we may have to install a ‘Do Not Make Love’ sign,†said Colbert. “I’m thrilled! This is a match made in heaven. Get ready for a love riot in late night,†said Batiste. Jon Batiste, a musician, educator and humanitarian from New Orleans, has performed internationally with his band, Stay Human, and has collaborated with acclaimed musicians, including Prince, Wynton Marsalis and Lenny Kravitz. Hailing from a long line of celebrated musicians in Louisiana, Batiste grew up playing percussion and then piano in his family’s band before studying at the Juilliard School, where he received his undergraduate and master’s degrees. Known for taking his jaw-dropping music to the streets in his signature “love riots,†his most recent studio album, Social Music, reached #1 on Billboard’s Jazz Album Chart. He appeared as himself on HBO’s “Treme†and as Da Organist Tk Hazelton in Spike Lee‘s “Red Hook Summer.†In 2012, Batiste was appointed the Artistic Director at Large of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, educating people about the museum and assisting with programming. Named one of ARTINFO’s “30 Under 30†most influential people in the art world, Batiste is a Movado Future Legend Award recipient and is one of the youngest Steinway Performing Artists of all time. Batiste’s first album on a major label will be released in the fall of 2015. THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8 (11:35-12:37 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT will be produced by The Late Show Inc., a CBS company, and will be broadcast from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. Specific creative elements and producers will be announced at a later date.
Here’s Batiste performing on The Colbert Report last summer: