Jon Batiste has called his current tour a healing, liberating spiritual practice that can serve as a reminder that joy is always available to us—that sometimes we have to dance our way through the world we’re living in.
The 38-year-old seven-time Grammy-winner brings a new album, Big Money, to Clearwater this week as part of a Florida swing that includes stops in Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and St. Augustine. And he’s very clear on who the show is for.
“It’s a family gathering,” the Louisiana native told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay over the phone last Friday. He sees generations of families represented in the crowd and called the opportunity to share music and be together a true privilege.
“It’s open for everybody to experience a powerful wave of joy and community,” Batiste added.
Ahead of the gig at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Batiste discussed the seeming calamity of the world outside, embracing mistakes, his thoughts on AI, the future of his career, and more.
Read our full Q&A below.
Jon Batiste
Time Wed., Oct. 8, 8 p.m. 2025
Location Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Rd., Clearwater
How you doing today?
Really good, man, really good.
I appreciate you talking to me ahead of your trip to Florida here.
Yes, sir, it’s gonna be amazing.
And I need to make my son proud. I have a five year old, and he loves “Big Money.” He loves music, but he loves Spanish language music, so I was surprised when he heard “Big Money” the first time, he just perked up and just couldn’t stop listening to it. And then he saw the video, and then he found out I was talking to you, and he wanted me to ask you a question. So is it OK if I play the question for you?
Yeah, go for it. I’d love it.
Hi, Mr. Jon. My name is Patrick, and I would like my dad to ask you, “Was the golden egg real? Did the chicken really say ‘big money,’ is the golden egg real, and why did it have yolk in it?'”
You know, I was gonna try to explain the video and what I thought about it to him, but I just didn’t think that was fair to who he is as a child and who you are as an artist. What could you say to a five year old who watched “Big Money” and had that question?
Well, what I would first say is: great observation. Then I would say, you know, the egg was glittering like gold, but it wasn’t gold. And I would tell them, and I’m telling him, to think about, what does that represent, and what does that mean, if my character can make the chicken lay an egg that glitters like gold, but is not gold. You know, the chicken did say “big money” in the video. It is a very talented chicken, so we really were very grateful to have such talent.
That’s awesome, and probably didn’t have to, you know, work through the SAG union, either for the chicken—or maybe the Union did have rep representation.
Yea the chicken had a SAG card, for sure.
Let me ask you. I know we don’t have that much time, so I might talk broadly about things, but I want to talk about this concept of seeming calamity, if that’s OK. Broken vessels, mistakes, and how there are these brilliant gifts and opportunities. We can make mistakes, or something that we didn’t plan for happens—interruptions, some people would say, if we’re going to be semantic about it—but there’s always some seeming calamity happening. And these are opportunities for us to respond and create. They give us these moments to discover something that’s a little bit greater than anything we could invent or devise without it.
Thinking about your new single, “Petrichor,” these themes around it are so beautiful. You talk about the smell of the earth and connecting, but the message is also clear, right? There’s this climate change message. And bear with me here. I want to talk about seeming calamity, mistakes being made, and how we move forward. But failures, in a lot of ways don’t exist, right? Our lives are riddled with them, and we can move quickly through them, not, you know, in a cavalier way, but with wisdom. Failures are for our own good.
Musically and otherwise, can you talk a little bit about mistakes in your life? And perhaps—I don’t know if you want to go here—but mistakes that the world is making, and really how we can harness the seeming calamity of our own lives to discover something greater for ourselves and for our neighbors.
Yes, it’s a beautiful gift to be able to wake up another day and try again. You’re breathing, you’re here, and to be here is the first step to changing the direction of a mistake into a life lesson. I think about that a lot, just from the perspective of going through things, making mistakes, having life interruptions, and realizing in retrospect that all those things make me who I am today—and I wouldn’t change them. So whenever you’re in a moment where it feels like it’s a down period, or a moment where the world feels like it’s in a place of heaviness and calamity, as you say, I don’t think that that’s the end. If you wake up another day, if we have another chance to move forward, you just have to be in that moment and make the next best right decision. The next best right thing. With that, it could be brushing your teeth, it could be, you know, making a sandwich or making breakfast, but you just got to keep being in the moment and making the next best right choice. .
Absolutely. And I haven’t heard you talk specifically about bravery, but I love your quote when you say things like, “You have to go there to know there, and you only know what it can be for you when you’re in the fire.” You don’t have to tell people to be brave, but you kind of empower them to do so.
Let me ask you about the vocation of being a musician. The form of this vocation is changing. You’ve said recently. You’ve kind of talked about how you’re not sure how much longer you’ll be a musician in that traditional sense. This is my second interview with the musician in a week who’s reckoned with how they want to use their gift, the form, what form that it takes. And I know there is some kind of shift coming to music and maybe to you, but you have to kind of let it happen. Thinking about your intuition and your trust in the universe, has it led you anywhere new on what that next form looks like for you? I know we’re out here, you know, promoting Big Money, and this show is about the joy of living, but I am curious about how you’re thinking about your next steps.
Well, I think about it from the perspective of how I can be the most in service to humanity and to my community and ultimately, how I can continue to prioritize my family and my faith and my artistry in the best way, so that they can not be about uplifting me in in my ego and my, celebrity, but more about being of service.
I think that the industry is a real challenge because of how things have become and how there’s this premium on artists being fit into a mold that doesn’t fit. Artists have become more and more claustrophobic, and I think that’s why things are shifting. You’re hearing a lot of artists, and me personally, thinking about, how do we get out of the system as it’s set up for us, and build something that really can reach and touch the people who need it the most, and the people who care the most, and the people who we are most happy to to serve. How do we build community with them that doesn’t have to go through the setup as it is now?
I think that that’s becoming more authentic. The more troubles we’re facing, the more people are going inward and feeling like they want to be as direct and as personal. And that may mean smaller, that may mean being in community with less people but it’s a deeper connection, or it could mean thinking about music and albums and touring in a completely different way. I’m sure that those discoveries will take different shapes based on different artists in their communities, but I think that over time, that’s going to create a better industry and a better sense of community overall.
For sure, I’m curious. I didn’t plan on asking this, but I’ve been using AI a lot recently in my life to help me remember to return my library books or even alphabetize lists. But in my interactions with this machine or learning model, I, one, recognize its power, but also see where it isn’t human at all. How much does technology or that stuff play in your head? Are you concerned about it? I think about your life as a musician, and you know your mother seeing your gift and cultivating those things in you, but there seem to be so many shortcuts now. What is your relationship with AI right now, and the role that it can play in helping you create things or maybe move through life?
I think that it’s an incredible tool, and I think that it’s one of those things that really does have unlimited potential, and that potential can be marshaled in any direction. It can be for the good of humanity, the good of creativity, the good of bringing people together, and it can be for the opposite of that.
I fear that right now we’re in this arms race, if you will, to get to the finish line first, and pushing to get there before someone else gets there. That’s not a value that puts focus on responsible use of the technology, and puts focus on it evolving in a way that is integrated into our life that doesn’t disrupt all of the things that we care about the most. So I think that there’s a little bit of an unknown just based on the speed at which we’re developing the technology; it’s evolving so quickly, and we’re not really in a position to make sure that everything is safeguarded before we continue to evolve the technology. So that’s my main concern with it.
But I do think, like anything else, it’s inevitable. And when something is inevitable and it’s moving forward, the best way to approach it is not with a spirit of fear. It’s to approach it from the perspective that we are here, and this is an opportunity, and let’s make the most of this opportunity. I don’t know how that’s going to take shape, but I think the best thing we can do is embrace it and figure out a way for it to be the best use towards improving our life and improving the way that we are together and not separating or dividing us.
Yeah, it has given me a lot of peace to watch interviews where you do talk about, kind of surrendering to the universe and accepting what it’s giving you and moving forward with it. Thinking back to what you were saying about servicing humanity around you. I think about your childhood, the things that you’ve talked about how you were bullied—and I’m not trying to go into the darkness of that—and obviously, not everybody has your talent. But when you think about home, or move about the world, or think back to your mother, you know she saw that gift for you. How much do you see and think about other Jon Batistes, if you will, with the talent who won’t have the same opportunities or or luck maybe to get out of their situations and realize your gifts. How in control do you feel of being able to find those folks and cultivate opportunities for them?
I think it’s a beautiful thing to have a platform to share with other people, because you can ensure that more people have the opportunity. So that’s really what I love to do with the gifts that I’ve been given and the time that I’ve put in to build a team and a platform to reach folks. It’s to use it to get other people to be able to express their gift, and to help people to see something within themselves that maybe you see what they don’t even see, and then, once they get an opportunity, it just changes their life journey. And I’ve seen that happen over the years, from the time that I started just a teenager to now. Being able to look back over 20 years of being a band leader, and musician, and artist, and a teacher and educator—to see that I’m able to impact lives in that way—just shows that the power is in going back and looking at those who are in the position that you once were, and figuring out a way, whether it’s through a good word or opportunity or even a collaboration, to empower them.
I know we’re up against it, I just have two more quick questions. I don’t know if you’d be able to answer this one, but how much do you remember from recent sessions working with A$AP Rocky? Specifically a young man named Jordan that was in the studio with you guys. You guys maybe took a break and went over to Small and you played some piano. Do you remember Jordan at all? I’m working on a separate story about him, because he’s from where I live.
Oh, cool. Yeah, that was amazing. We had a great night. I’ve been really a friend of his. We’ve worked together some, but mostly just hanging out socially and always going to jazz clubs and listening to bands. And that night we went out, we played some some stuff in the studio, and Jordan was there and A$AP, and a few other musicians—actually, there’s a great saxophonist, Caleb Arredondo, who’s now on tour with me, he’ll be on the shows in Florida—he was there that night as well. It was a crew of musicians, and we went out. We went to Smalls, and it was a great night, ended up taking over the bandstand and doing a jam session that night. It was a beautiful New York night.
What’s it like to see a young man like Jordan? I’ve been writing about him for years, almost a decade now. He was just a kid in high school and never wanted to make music that gave into the trends and stuff. What’s it like to see him bring his gifts to the studio and be there alongside you?
It’s great. You know we were talking about people who have that ability. Reminds me of me when I was that age, when I was younger, coming up, and having these opportunities to be in in a session, and some of the older musicians who I looked up to—thinking about people who had been on the journey longer than me, and them embracing me and having the spirit of really wanting me to have a great experience. I felt like, now that’s me, and feeling that towards him, it just reminded me of when I was in that position.
Excellent. And last question, in case you haven’t said enough about your tour. This is a tour that is healing, liberating. It’s unforgettable. It’s about reminding us that joy is always available to us and that sometimes the world as it is, you kind of just dance your way through it. It’s not necessarily a concert, right? It’s spiritual practice. I think you called it Beethoven in the Congo Square, some of the moments, is there anything else you really want Florida to understand about the tour that you’re bringing to the state that you haven’t said already?
It’s a family event. It’s a family gathering. It’s a beautiful thing to see when we perform. It’s so many different people from their their family coming to shows. You’ll see generations three and four generations, folks represented. Having the impact on generations like that—it’s open for everybody to experience a powerful wave of joy and community. It’s really a privilege to be able to go around the country and share that and give people something that is so powerful through the music and through the togetherness. It’s really what I want to share with everybody who’s out there in the community. So please, join us, and don’t be afraid to bring anybody who is in your community.
Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time, Jon. And thanks for your spirit and everything that you bring to the world, it certainly helped me out a lot of times. So thank you.
Yes sir. Much love to you. God bless.
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This article appears in Oct. 2 – 8, 2025.