We Are

In May 2020, pianist and vocalist Jon Batiste released the song "We Are" in support of the Black Lives Matter protests. A year later, he expanded that song into the vibrantly cross-pollinated full-length album We Are. While jazz is always at the core of Batiste's work, on We Are he dips back into the genre-bending pop and R&B-influenced sound of his Stay Human ensemble (whom he famously performs with on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert). He's assisted by a bevy of production collaborators, including Jahaan Sweet, POMO, and Ricky Reed. We also get appearances by Mavis Staples and Quincy Jones, as well as Batiste's father, Michael Batiste, and grandfather David Gauthier, all of whom add layers of authenticity and biographical texture to the album. While universal in tone, We Are is beautifully inspired by Batiste's life growing up in New Orleans. The record opens with the title track, a passionate, gospel-accented anthem featuring the St. Augustine Marching Band from his high school. We also get "Boyhood," a funky ode to the Big Easy that finds Batiste and fellow New Orleans natives PJ Morton and Trombone Shorty celebrating how the families, food, and culture of their hometown shaped their lives. Batiste sings, "I said I'm far from home but I always represent/I thought I had so much time, I don't know where it went/But now that I'm grown I know what it all meant/No place like New Orleans." Using the best of the past to build toward a better tomorrow is a stirring notion that pervades the album, both musically and thematically. He draws upon the vigorous grooves of New Orleans funk pioneers the Meters with "Tell the Truth" and crafts a buoyant, psychedelic-soul vibe with the help of author Zadie Smith on "Show Me the Way." One of the most vivid encapsulations of his old-meets-new sound on We Are is "I Need You," an electric amalgam of boogie-woogie blues and vintage hip-hop attitude -- like an impossible combination of Little Richard and OutKast. Batiste's genre-mashing reinforces the album's theme of intergenerational wisdom, and it's also wonderfully fun. ~ Matt Collar