Renaissance Jazz Man
New millennium virtuoso and ‘Late Show’ bandleader Jon Batiste gives a free concert in Marina del Rey By Bliss Bowen It’s fitting that, in the world of late-night TV show hosts and their corresponding sidekicks, Jon Batiste landed with “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Eschewing the kitsch of earlier-generation bandleader/sidekicks (think Paul Shaffer and Doc Severinsen), since 2015 the jazz pianist has been the soulful yin to Colbert’s sardonic yang, both sophisticated representatives of taste and humanity in an anything-goes sociopolitical landscape. Those qualities shine through Batiste’s performances on the show and even more so away from it....
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