WEBVTT - QLS Classic: Jon Batiste 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:04.240 Course Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:11.160 episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Musician John 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:15.000 Batiste joins Team Supreme to rehash his journey from smalltown 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:18.880 Louisiana to musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:30.160 Originally released March fourteenth, twenty nineteen, Just follow On, You'll 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:30.560 get it. 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:38.600 Suprema Supremo, Roll Call, Suprema su su Supremo, Roll. 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:48.200 Call, Suprema Supremo, Roll Call Supremo, Supremo, rolls all day Yeah, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:49.760 well winter spring and summer. 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.160 Yeah, two band leaders of Late Night. Yeah, both started 0:00:53.159 --> 0:01:00.200 out as drummer Supremo Supremo roll God. Who's sma, uh 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.680 Supremo roll You're both real talented? 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:09.559 Yeah Yeah, and the best band leader is Doc Severn 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.480 Suprema Supremo. 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:22.199 Roll I fell in my second line after the show. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:23.440 but have no fear. 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:33.399 Yeah Supremo, roll Call, Supremo, Supremo. 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:33.800 Roll. 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.520 Her name is Boss Bill, Yeah, right, as a Halogen, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:45.440 Yeah Bill and a Steed and some Hollywood Africans roll Spremo, 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:50.240 roll call, Suprema so Supremo, roll call. 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.000 Yeah, and it's going down Yeah. 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.000 Thomson yeah, all right, now. 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:05.320 Supremo Supremo, role called Suprema Supremo. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:09.320 Roll it's John Battie. Yeah, and I'm in the house. 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:10.040 Yeah. 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.280 We about to get down. Yeah, that's what we about. 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.399 Oh call Suprema su Supremo. 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:25.279 Roll call Suprema Suck, Suck Supremo, Roll call Supremo Supremo, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:30.119 Roll call Supremo, Sun Supremo, roll call. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:35.280 Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of course some 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.640 Supreme Late Night the Late Night. Right. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:03:00.160 Wait, he's starting already, He's starting already. Mother is Jamaica. 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:08.880 Shut. I knew I was going to have to play 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:16.519 thank you so rand Love make I love that. I 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.519 was going to say, I mean, I was going to 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:24.360 introduce our guests, but no, let's introd all right, well 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.959 let's let's just let's just keep it tradition, so we don't, 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.880 you know, scare off our viewers. Our guest today actually 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.840 needs no introduction, ladies and gentlemen. And there's not Late 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:39.560 Night Wars happening in this building yet. No. Our guest 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.520 today is I will say he's band leader supreme. Uh, 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:51.760 he is multi instrumentalist. You are a Juilliard graduate, And 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.760 I'll say that most of America currently now knows you 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:01.000 as the band leader for the number one show in 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:10.080 late night. Okay, no, no fake news, fake news no, no, 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.839 no snort nothing, h of course it's uh late Wait, 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.760 technically what is the show called. It's late Night with 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.280 Stephen Corbert Late show, the late show. There's like late 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:27.080 night late show later tonight. Yes, the show with Stephen Colbert. 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.600 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Quest of Supreme the 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:35.960 one and only John Patize. That's all man, So Bill 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:43.720 going on, Bill, I'm having to see I have not 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:48.800 seen since uh the salon, the foods a lot of 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.160 your house. That was like, have you ever had him 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.200 on Sesame Street? I just asked him. 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.719 He got very upset because I grilled him about hasn't 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:58.720 he been on street? 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.960 He's like tailor, Man, I know this. I have talked 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.640 to him about this, and I'm working on it. Everybody 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.200 simmered down. I haven't been here in a long time. 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.320 Everybody's for question. I've been here for a ten minutes. 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.000 Just check it. Wait, can I ask you something? John? 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:17.440 This is the one. 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.240 This is the question I always wanted to know. Are 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:27.920 you silently because I know you have history way before 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.040 I knew of you, Like Lenny Kravis put me on 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.240 to you long ago, and you you You've actually inspired 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.719 some ideas I've had about how to put show presentations 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:43.080 on and everything. So I've known about you way before Colbert. 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:45.640 I mean you got hired by Colbert because of the 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.280 reputation that you were building. Yes, are you? Do you 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:54.080 get slightly annoyed when people come up to you and 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:58.320 just like, hey, Stephen, Colbert's guy, like without knowing the history, 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.760 like you just came out of nowhere to Yes, that 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:01.440 happened to you a. 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.680 Lot, it does, you know, Like I'll be going somewhere 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.120 and I'll run into somebody and they'll be like, hey, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.680 you're the guy from Colbert. What's your name? And then 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.280 after a while they were like, oh, yeah, that's John Bettiste. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.640 But it's still from from the Lake Show. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.800 Right, I mean you could be from Colbert technically, yeah, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.520 you're from it, but it's almost like, you know, I'm 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.320 Jimmy Fallon's drummer. Yes, and you. 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.120 Don't have the same issue too sometimes Yeah. 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:29.240 Because that's why. 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:39.720 It's it's cool to and as as you do when 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.200 you have other things that you do that kind of 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:43.400 paints a full picture. 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:46.960 I actually, all right, now that we're saying this, I 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:51.800 believe that's probably the real reason I stick to nineteen jobs, 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.200 because it's almost like, Hey, what am I my chef, 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.800 my cook guy today and my you know, music teacher 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.400 today and my like I always wanted to know. Is 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:08.680 that slightly irksome when people don't do the research and know, yeah, 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:09.480 your history. 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.880 Yeah, it's it's something that I think over time, people 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.040 and people still have been digging back into the catalog 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.080 of seeing things that we're done. But I think over time, 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.200 the more you do and the more you just keep 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:26.080 doing your thing and not letting any one thing define you, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.160 the more that you can continue to kind of bring 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.080 people into what you do with your art or your creativity. 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:32.280 You know. 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:33.480 But what about the flip side? 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.000 Whereas what I was gonna say on the other side 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:36.960 was give you the megaphones that neither of you had 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:38.440 ever had PCT Right, I'm. 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:38.840 Gonna go out. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.320 When I saw the last episode of Corbert Report, when 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.360 you guys did the line, yeah, that was the first 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.360 time I ever saw you, and I was like, oh shit. 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.560 And then I just did the research and I was like, Okay, yeah, 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:50.480 it's a way to bring new people in. 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:55.120 Absolutely it's amazing. I mean, oh good, just being on 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.920 a show that's kind of like this is fraternity and 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.960 it's hard to have any sort of malice or disrespect 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:03.960 to it, even if people just know you for that 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.040 right now. But I feel like I've always just been 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.880 somebody who likes to create and explore different things and 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:13.520 evolve and grow, and I'm always pushing myself to try 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.440 to find something else that's going to challenge me. So 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.120 the consistency of the show is one thing, but I 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.640 have to balance it out even just for me, not 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.560 even for the sake of people knowing that there's more 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.120 that I have to offer, but just for my own 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.760 well being as an artist. I got to keep pushing 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.920 and creating. So it gives me a chance to share 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:35.080 it with a lot more people. 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.079 How easy is it to do? Because I know that 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.800 there's many sides to John Fatiz as far as like 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:48.000 your like, you'll do traditional jazz records stuff with State Human, 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:52.760 You'll do different projects. What I primarily knew you for 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.959 were these sort of kind of musicals speak easy so 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:03.719 to sea where I'll say, you know, years before he 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.680 was on the show. He would word would get around 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.880 that there's gonna be a secret John Patisse show at 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:16.920 some nondescript random warehouse in Harlem or in Brooklyn or 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:21.439 in the Bronx somewhere, And it's almost like it's the 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.480 musical version of Well, only New Yorkers will get this 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.520 reference of like Sleep No More. Sleep No More is 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.280 kind of like a play where the fourth wall is 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.959 sort of exposed and you're part of the play. You 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.800 as the spectator. So you go to this like big 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:43.760 wide open space and then John and State Human basically perform. 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.840 There's no traditional stage, so there's almost like four setups 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:51.480 they you know, they'll they'll pick one side of the 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.120 corner where their music's set up, and then they'll march 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:56.880 to the other side of the room where there's other 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.079 music instruments set up. Like everyone gets a chance to 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.960 be the front row seat, and it's and it's immersive, 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.720 and they have like stuff hanging around you could play 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.880 instruments and all that other stuff and enjoining. It's like 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:16.719 I never seen a show in which the artists that 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.800 the audience is actually immersed in with the show. Are 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.840 you able to still do those secret Smurf shows at all? 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:25.400 Is it like. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.280 It's it's it's hard. I mean, I'm sure, as you know. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:33.480 The to keep the energy level up after doing the show, 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.199 I had to take the first six months when I 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.319 started doing Colbert just to figure out how to do 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:42.839 it and and figuring out how to balance everything else 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:47.120 that I have been doing with now my job on 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.599 the show. But then after I figured that out, I 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.199 started to focus more on recording things and be in 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.199 the studio because I was mostly playing live during that 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.439 time and exploring how to really present a real immersive 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.040 experience that brought people together so it work. 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:06.679 I saw it live in Philly when you did it. Oh, 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.280 you're in the lobby of the Kimmel Center. Yeah, that show. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.520 It was an amazing show that was fun for free. 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:14.960 I was like. 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.600 This and the lily jumped in the crowd went around. 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.000 Yeah. I was wondering, like, how do y'all get paid, because. 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.040 Well, sometimes, like when we go on the road, we'd 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.480 do them after the show, so it would be we 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.439 would take the guarantee from the show and use that. 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.240 So you do a regular show, right, and then that's 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:41.240 like your Prince after party. Yeah, I never knew that. 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:42.960 I thought that was your bread and butter. 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.199 Well, at one point it was when we were in 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.719 New York. Right then we started to get known for that, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.319 and then we got an agent, and then we went 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:52.840 on the road. And then we went on the road. 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.319 We didn't want to stop doing that because every venue 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:59.199 doesn't accommodate, right that that kind of performance. So it 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.040 was kind of like, okay, well we can just do 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:06.400 two shows right right. It's cool. It's cool to see 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:10.560 how people react to the music when you put when 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:14.280 you put it in a different context, because like you 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.559 if we play jazz, for instance, and it's in a 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.760 jazz club, it's much different than if like somebody sitting 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.200 next to you on the piano or somebody sitting behind 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.880 the drums and they can really see the interaction with 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:27.400 the rhythm section and stuff like that. 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:32.079 Does that does a plan sometimes backfire? Because you do 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.920 present this whole speak easy thing like it's it's like 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.080 you know, like sometimes it's almost like you're you're walking 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.280 into a set of an old like fifties burlesque, right, 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:47.080 So whoever like designs the stuff, and you know, sometimes 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.560 I'll see like people trying to sit on your piano 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:56.280 bench with you as your drink. Like, so, how you 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.760 know some drunk guy suddenly wants to sit in on 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:03.320 drums or know, Like, how do you guys control that situation? 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.000 It's it's it's a casualty of the situation, Like you 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.720 got to go into it expecting some people to get 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.680 super free. That's the way we're like, Oh, this cat's 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.640 about to get super free. And then when that happens, 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:21.080 you almost plan the show, Like the set morphs from 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.920 whatever it was gonna be to accommodate whatever happens. So 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.520 if that guy comes in grabs drumsticks or something, then okay, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.679 well let's go into the drum circle that we had 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:37.000 planned for the next three songs down and put that right. 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:37.240 Now. 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.040 There's a question because I haven't I haven't seen one 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:41.679 of these, but they sound amazing, and I'm wondering, have 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:42.880 you ever done these at the schools? 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:43.480 Oh? 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.240 Yeah, yeah, not in New York actually, but we've done 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:51.640 them in schools we went to in Amsterdam, we actually 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.480 we did we did a show at the concert Gibaut, 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.719 which is like a concert hall there, and that was 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.320 just like a a traditional show. And then we went 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.360 into school and did basically kind of like this kind 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.640 of curated thing but in their auditorium. But that was 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:09.640 one thing we didn't. We also went into one of 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:14.199 the their equivalent of like the hood, and I got 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.640 I got them to put a piano in the middle 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.719 of the street, which I always loved that visual, just 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:23.080 having like instruments on the block, which I mean, I 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.080 know you you played. And that's kind of how we 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:30.760 started this whole kind of concept of immersion, which is 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:32.760 when we started playing on the streets and we play 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.320 in the subways in New York and we'll see how 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.680 people react when you see see the band come into 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:41.440 a cart and just set up for like thirty minutes 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:45.080 and play. It's like, Wow, these y'all not asking for money, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.040 y'all not buss right because. 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:49.160 At the end you get to the next car cident 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.120 on ass That's how you get to be. 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:54.120 Honest, it's always it's always with the wary look when 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:55.640 somebody sets up on the trains. 0:14:55.560 --> 0:15:00.360 It's like, wait, I know exactly, like the first five 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.240 minutes on the Hardest have you do that? Have you 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:07.720 done New York trains yet? Oh? Yeah, yeah, really I 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:12.080 always wanted to do that everyone, Yeah, we should do 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.560 that one day. Yeah yeah, if a train and just 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:21.600 I guess nothing shocking in New York City? Who was 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.480 It was like who are those two guys pen Station 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.600 or something like that, and like nobody knew, like nobody 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:29.760 noticed it that they were there. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:31.280 Did it once? 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.120 Oh yeah, yeah, I saw just like shredding the violin 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.000 and like Bleaker Street and people are like, actually, come 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.920 to think of it. So I tried to once get 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.480 jay Z to come to one of your events. Has 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.880 he seen it yet? Not that not the he saw 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:54.040 traditional one damn because the thing was, uh, I got 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:56.880 him the halfway agreed to it. I had seen the 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.160 first time I saw you, was I guessed, or the 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:04.280 time in which uh jay was doing something at Carnegie Hall. 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.400 I'm still a bad beating. So I said, okay, this 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.160 is what I want to do. I said, what I 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.840 want to do? This actually after reasonable doubt slightly, this 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:16.200 is like when American Gangster was out. Yeah, and I 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:17.880 told him, I said, this is what we're going to do. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.520 You're going to do someone on stage right, and then 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:25.960 we're going to march into the the four air the 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.480 p and then when you're done, you and just Blaze 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.480 are going to do the Encore and the Nose Bleeds. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.080 And he looked at me like, I'm not doing that shit, 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.560 but he I convinced him at least to do. He 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.720 did his Encore and the Nose Bleed. And unfortunately, what 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:49.560 I didn't realize with with Carnegie Hall was that the 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:53.000 way that the balconies are built, if you're like under, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.960 if you're sitting on the floor row, you can't see 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.360 what's happening right there. So and of course they're like, no, 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:01.760 you got you can't stand and you know, like it 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.520 stands at Carnegie Hall. It was rather frustrating for the 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:10.440 people on the who weren't in the news right right, Yeah, 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:13.360 I bet they have a close up view for once 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.040 exactly exactly. I was like, no, just give it, give 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:18.280 them to there. It's good. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:20.040 So we're amazing. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.080 I want to know your story, like where were you 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.200 born and how was music brought to your life? 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:34.800 Oh wow, So I was born in actually Metoie, Louisiana, 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.000 and I was raised in Kenner, Louisiana, between Kenner and 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:38.600 New Orleans. 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.880 I was like, there are other places besides me. These 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:42.240 are like. 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.920 Literally ten minutes outside of New Orleans. They're like suburbs 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.720 of New Orleans. But basically even though the airport is 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.240 in Kenner, it's called New Orleans International, Oh okay, so 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.200 it's like the New Orleans area. And my dad he's 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.320 a great bassist. My mother's not a musician, but she 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:07.000 has a really good ear. And my dad had six 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.639 brothers and they all played in the band together. And 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.719 from the six brothers, they're like thirty cousins. And at 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:16.760 the time when I was growing up, I was the 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.920 youngest of the cousins. Of all that Brude, Yeah, of 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:23.680 all of them when I was growing up, I was 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.600 the youngest, and there were two that were closer to 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.960 my age, and we started the junior band together. And 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.040 the three of us were drummers when we started the band. 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.159 But you can't have three drummers in the band. And 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.280 I'm the youngest, so obviously I'm gonna be the one 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.440 that switches instrument and the second youngest. He had to 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.080 switch the instrument because everybody wanted to play the drums, 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.760 so I switched to piano. Then it's around the time 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:50.800 it was like ten or eleven. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:53.560 Adjustment. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:57.920 It was I was already kind of like we would 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:02.760 pick out songs from video games, and all of us 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:13.240 would Mario when Sega came out. Sonic Oh, Sonic soundtrack 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:14.920 is amazing, maybe. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.520 Or maybe not created by Michael Jackson, by the way, 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.639 I know, maybe or maybe not, we don't know. 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:27.280 Soundtrack is incredible, and street Fighter soundtracks from Street Fighter too, 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:32.080 all the way street Fighter Alpha, Final Fantasy seven like 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.359 we would play. We would legit transcribe the soundtrack and 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.800 play it on piano. So I kind of had a 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:41.840 little bit of piano chops. And then I was also 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.280 kind of, uh, you know, taking classical piano lessons but 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.600 not really taking them seriously. So I had a little 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.280 bit of a foundation, but when I switched to a piano, 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.040 I didn't really get serious about it until I was 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:55.000 like thirteen. 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:57.119 Did y'all play for other kids? Because it seems like 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.000 that would have been dope for other kids to like 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:01.440 enter the world of as instrumentation and stuff. 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.400 It was cool when we did a gig every year 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:09.840 at the Children's Museum. That was our first regular gig. 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.119 The band's called the Baptist Kids, and we printed these shirts, 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:19.520 uh it said purple and white shirts Baptist Kids, and 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:24.399 it had us on the shirt cartoon versions I remember 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.159 and we'll play. Our only gig for a while was 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.280 the Children's Museum in New Orleans every year, and we 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.560 played for kids at the museum game play the video 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.080 game Songs, and we played Marti Gross songs, Saints Go 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:40.720 Watch and then you know how uh, I. 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.320 Won't even say how important, but how And I know 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:49.720 that you're from Louisiana, so you gotta tread like how 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:58.600 burdensome is the idea of the tradition of New Orleans music. 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.720 Like I almost feel like if you come out the womb, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:08.920 it's like you have to know every solo from Satimo. 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:14.320 You have to know it's true and is it right? Well, 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.080 I mean the thing is that you're I mean, I've 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:21.560 I've grew up in I mean, I've seen jazz nazis 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:22.439 all my life and. 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.360 That's a technical term, jazz nazis. 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:34.840 That's a real But I just really Steve is looking 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:41.160 at me right now. I asked the question, will you child? 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:47.879 But I mean there's I mean, the reputation of New Orleans. 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:51.800 I had to deal with Ellis Marcella's who I was 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.080 a kid. He told me give up, like you know, 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:58.119 he he just straight up told me to give up. 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:04.680 Like and I think that's what really pushed me to 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.720 not following because I went to school with Christian McBride, 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.400 Joey de Francesco, all these guys. So I was striving 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:14.679 to be a young lion. Yeah. Yeah, And I did 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.560 this masterclass with Ellis and he just like it was 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:22.680 past embarrassment and humiliation, like and you know, I was good, 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:24.720 you know what I mean, But it was just like, 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:28.040 you know, he like the tone of it. He like 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:30.080 the shirt I was wearing, like you're not a real 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:35.159 jazz cat, And like I just I gave up. I 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:37.879 didn't give up. I just like, well, you're right, go 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:39.840 let me go to what I really love, which which 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:40.360 is hip hop. 0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:41.720 Did he have a circle back? I just I just 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:42.159 need to know. 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.320 Branford and I laugh at her all the time, don't 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:51.440 mind dad. So, but I'm asking you, uh, was your 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:55.919 being the youngest of it? Where you're was your family 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:58.720 the same way where it was just like you don't 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:02.680 get any respect from us until you learn like everything 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:06.639 from Maple leave Rat to all these old scrolls of 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.679 ye it was it was like. 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:17.360 It was it was an interesting mix of different flavors 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:22.240 of that. So, like, my family was coming from the 0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:27.639 the Meters and it's like the funk tradition. So my 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:32.040 uncle was was one of the first keyboarders in the 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:38.080 Meters uh, and then my cousin Russell, he took over 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:42.040 in the Meters after Ziggaboo whose original drama Yeah so 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:46.480 zig that that was like my immediate family, and that's 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:50.240 kind of like what that's what I got from from 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:52.639 being around them, was kind of that tradition and just 0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:56.800 almost vicariously because it was never like John play this, 0:23:57.400 --> 0:24:00.680 this is how this beat goes, uh, the how these calls. 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:03.040 I would just be on stage as a kid, and 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:05.840 I'd be watching and kind of absorbing that. And that 0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:10.359 was fun because that kind of influenced a lot of 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:16.400 how I look at performing for people in stage presence 0:24:16.480 --> 0:24:19.679 and also just the communal aspect of music because they 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:23.960 would be playing and sometimes you know, you'd have musicians 0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:26.760 just coming up on stage unannounced, and you know, it 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:30.560 would turn into this massive tribal groove and that was 0:24:30.640 --> 0:24:32.760 one side of it. And then as I got older 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:36.199 and started getting into jazz, around thirteen and fourteen, there 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:38.000