To borrow a quote from 20th-century scholar Forrest Gump, Jon Batiste is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
His catalog spans nearly two decades. It includes six studio albums, nine EPs, two soundtrack albums, five live albums and three collaborative albums. And yet when he took the stage last night to kick off Music at the Intersection 2026 with a special presentation, Jon Batiste Live: A Fantastical Musical Journey, he relied heavily on the compositions of others.
This didn’t disappoint the audience. Quite the contrary.
“He brought the juke joint from Sinners to the Fox,” St. Louis American columnist Mike Jones said after Batiste made his exit. “If that wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is.”
Thursday night was Jones’ first time seeing Batiste. He promised it wouldn’t be the last — and was shocked to learn this reporter’s opinion that the show wasn’t Batiste’s best performance in St. Louis. That distinction belongs to his epic set at Saint Louis Music Park in 2024, with his co-headlining concert with Diana Ross at the Muny a close second.
But last night’s performance was on brand for Batiste — a high-energy musical interpretation of pure joy. As always with a Jon Batiste show, the audience left feeling better than when they came.
The show ended the same way it began, with Batiste working the crowd as he paid homage to his hometown of New Orleans with a second line. His trusted melodica in tow, he moved through the orchestra seats as the band followed with a rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” as the intro and “You Are My Sunshine” as the outro.
After whipping the crowd into a frenzy, Batiste jumped right into the self-love anthem “Be Who You Are.” Then he sat at the piano and dove into “It’s Alright” by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. He kept that vibe going with William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got,” a song so similar to the Mayfield sound that it is often incorrectly attributed to the legendary singer, songwriter and producer.
He encouraged a sing-along — and his signature smile grew even brighter when the crowd responded with unprompted harmony as he directed them to sing the song’s chorus.
“Diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging the scene with a gangster lean woo-hoo.” He was so thrilled he asked the crowd to sing it again.
Batiste took an unlikely but delightful detour with a taste of Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” before jumping back into his original music with “I NEED YOU.”
He gave his powerhouse background vocalist DeSz the spotlight by way of the Ray Charles classic “The Night Time Is the Right Time.” She belted the song’s signature call-and-response with Batiste. He picked up the tempo with the title track of his studio album Big Money and included audience participation from a colorful and lively woman who called herself “Grandma Janice.” She was eager to show off her attempt at the routine Batiste guided the audience through step by step.
He once again slowed the tempo with a snippet of the Tom Petty rock anthem “I Won’t Back Down,” which segued into “Für Elise-Batiste” from his 2024 piano album Beethoven’s Blues.
Batiste is focused on giving the audience inspiration and an exchange of love, but his musical ingenuity had its moment when he dove into a genre-bending interpretation that seamlessly merged classical, gospel and blues piano.
Just as he had during his Muny show, Batiste took a moment to pay tribute to Chuck Berry — one of his musical heroes in the city that gave Berry to the world. His piano-driven “No Particular Place to Go” also nodded to Berry’s longtime pianist, fellow St. Louisan Johnnie Johnson — the inspiration behind Berry’s classic “Johnny B. Goode.”
He showed some love to fellow New Orleanian piano impresario Fats Domino with “Ain’t That a Shame.”
Before he sent the audience out the door full of sunshine, he asked them to raise their cell-phone flashlights in the air for his performance of “Butterfly.”
“Let’s stand on our feet and raise your light into the air,” Batiste directed the crowd as he sang.
“Shine your light,” he said. They knew he was talking about more than just their phones.
Music at the Intersection continues through July 19 at various venues and will feature more than 100 artists performing throughout the Grand Center Arts District. For more information and a full schedule, visit matistl.org.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
