America, Wherefore Art Thou?
We found one answer when the buoyant Jon Batiste lit up Central Park last night
Author’s Note: This is another in an occasional series on America: What is it? Why is it? What do we love about it? These stories will focus on a wide variety of American culture and society.
The joy was overwhelming. It began last night with the first song, Jon Batiste’s Grammy-winning “Freedom.” And it wasn’t just the exuberant musician, composer, performer and former bandleader for Stephen Colbert’s show who was lighting up the stage in New York’s Central Park: He was surrounded by more than 30 musicians and dancers lifted by the buoyant, heartfelt music.
The contagious energy—How could I not dance?—was not just about fun and forgetting. “When I say freedom and love, I really mean it,” Batiste told us in the crowd. And: “The world is out of balance right now…and we can bring it back in balance.”
If you haven’t taken a few minutes to listen and watch the video for “Freedom” from several years ago, don’t delay. Shot in the streets of his hometown New Orleans, relying on local dancers and musicians, centered on Batiste’s gravity-defying movement and celebratory energy, I dare you not to smile or get caught up in its optimistic spirit.
It’s hard to overstate how badly America needs the infectious energy of performers and artists right now. Batiste—who mounted this pop-up concert to introduce his soon-to-release album “Big Money”—understands what’s at stake. “This night’s about love, but we are here to be in solidarity with those who are under persecution,” he said late in the evening. “We are going to be an example of how the world can be.”
His is an inclusive vision. The music ranged from gospel to classical, from jazz and blues to rap and hip-hop, from moments that seemed like a roots hootenanny to piano riffs on Fats Domino and Beethoven. As a big fan of Bill Withers, I was excited to hear the Juilliard-educated Batiste sing a little of Withers’ great song “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Batiste’s inclusive mindset also could be seen in who joined him on stage: A community of performers, young and old, racially diverse, all kinds of body types, a kaleidoscope of humanity—brought together by Batiste’s spirited music and activated by his passion.
Batiste’s irrepressible enthusiasm is not a shallow show. His optimism is hard-earned, borne out of his expansive creativity and challenging life experiences. Most notably is his wife’s ongoing and public battle with cancer. Suleika Jaouad was first diagnosed with leukemia more than a decade ago before relapsing in 2021 and again in 2024. At the same time he learned in 2021 that he had received 11 Grammy nominations (and eventually won five), she was going through chemotherapy.
"Sometimes the cancer will be gone. Other times, we'll have to deal with what comes when it comes back and that's just a part of our life,” Batiste has explained. "We all have these things that challenge us to build our character and strengthen our relationships."
As for his wife, a gifted author and writer, “I’m always in awe of Suleika, how she deals with hardships,” Batiste said in the 2023 Netflix documentary, American Symphony, that chronicles a year of highs and lows in their life. “I’ve thought of the challenges in life,” he said in a PBS NewsHour interview, “as an opportunity to reflect on and be grateful for what’s most important. That’s what they’re there for.”
You can hear his crystalized thinking in the lyrics of “I Need You” from 2021:
In this world with a lot of problems
All we need is a little loving
Thank you, thank you, oh, you make me
Thank you, thank you for your love
Batiste has a powerful ability to confront tough topics in his music while holding onto a sense of hope. One of his songs strikingly addressed the climate crisis with the repeated lyric “They’re burning the planet down,” yet he soon had the audience singing along with him in an atmosphere of community and healing. It’s this combination he seeks to confront reality and give people tools to manage the struggle.
Here’s how he discussed his approach during a CBS interview this morning after the concert. “You’ve got to be true, you’ve got to be authentic,” he said. “That’s the thing you’ve been given in this world. And if you put it out there, without fear, it’s going to change some peoples’ lives to let them know they can do that.”
Tomorrow I’ll be back to confronting our fractured body politic and this cruel, unprincipled regime that has abandoned decency, humanity and democracy in its pathetic hunger for power at any price. But thanks to Jon Batiste, the effort feels just a little bit lighter right now.
“No matter how dark it gets,” he said last night, “I know: We can win. We can win. We can win.”
Yes, we can. Let’s not lose sight of the good and motivated people in our country who remain committed to creativity, diversity, inclusion—and joy.
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A phenomenal joyful artist. The best of what we can be.
Thank you for this rare glimpse of happiness in spite of the hateful world some people are working on.