We Are (Verve)
Jon Batiste
Released March 19, 2021
Jazz FM Album of the Year 2021
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2021
JAZZ FM 25 Best Jazz Albums of 2021
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mL3xp6gGbaCSu53z8jVdEzWKDsRQeqMuY
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6kHFkPvL2X3rZPuS3CEMUE?si=VG6wQMktTS2WepFkOjLFRQ
About:
We are is a masterfully constructed and visionary album that represents a completely new sonic chapter for Jon Batiste and a new direction for music culture as a whole. Writing, travelling, painting – all while inviting some of the most esteemed creative minds to assist in birthing the album – he reached the finish line smack in the middle of the first wave of the worldwide pandemic and volatile social unrest. At the end, a masterpiece of Black Pop Music characterized by the consciousness of Marvin Gaye, the grounded optimism of Stevie Wonder, the iconoclasm of Thelonious Monk and the swagger of Mannie Fresh was born. On march 19th, 2021, Jon will present a captivating musical experience to the world rooted in catharsis, joy, freedom, contemplation and sensuality. It’s a love letter to his southern roots and the heritage of black music with guest appearances by Mavis Staples, Quincy Jones, Zadie Smith, Pj Morton, Trombone Shorty, St Augustine Marching 100, his father Michael Batiste, grandfather David Gauthier and many more. It is a meditation steeped in the sounds of the times with collaborators including Pomo (Anderson.Paak), Ricky Reed (Lizzo), Jahaan Sweet (Drake, Eminem) and others.
Track Listing:
1. We Are (Jon Batiste) 04:24
2. Tell the Truth (Jon Batiste) 03:21
3. Cry (Jon Batiste / Steve McEwan) 03:57
4. I Need You (Jon Batiste / Autumn Rowe) 02:37
5. Whatchutalkinbout (Jon Batiste) 02:21
6. Boy Hood (Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews / Jon Batiste / Sunny Levine / PJ Morton / Jahaan Sweet) 04:26
7. Movement 11′ (Jon Batiste) 02:01
8. Adulthood (Jon Batiste) 03:41
9. Mavis (Mavis Staples) 00:20
10. Freedom (Jon Batiste / Autumn Rowe) 02:58
11. Show Me the Way (Jon Batiste) 03:40
12. Sing (Jon Batiste / Zach Cooper / Vic Dimotsis / Eric Frederic / Autumn Rowe) 03:07
13. Until (Jon Batiste) 01:03
Personnel:
Jon Batiste: bass (vocal), composer, Fender jazz bass, keyboards, mellotron, moog bass, piano, producer, strings, theremin, vocals
Craig Adams: conductor, organ (1)
David Gauthier: vocals (1)
Braedon Gautier: vocals (1)
Brennan Gautier: vocals (1)
Gospel Soul Children: vocals (1)
David Pimentel: drums, producer, recording
Autumn Rowe: composer, vocals (1)
Nate Smith: drums
Cory Wong: guitar
Sam Yahel: organ
Mavis Staples: spoken word
Zadie Smith: vocals (11)
PJ Morton: vocals (6)
Trombone Shorty: trombone (6)
Robert Randolph: pedal steel guitar (7)
Steve Jordan: drums (7)
Steve McEwan: acoustic guitar, composer (7)
Endea Owens: double bass (8)
Louis Cato: guitar (9)
Joe Saylor: tambourine (9)
Emily King: vocals (10)
St. Augustine High School Marching 100: brass band (1)
Hot 8 Brass Band: brass band (8)
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios (1, 8, 10), New York, NY; Ed Sullivan Theater, New York, NY (1, 4, 10, 11); The Village Studios, Los Angeles, CA (1, 12); Esplanade Studios, New Orleans, LA (1, 13); Sound City Studios, Los Angeles, CA (2); Sear Sound Studios, New York, NY (3); NY Hedstudios, New York, NY and Village Studios, Los Angeles, CA (5); Blast Off Productions, New York, NY (6); Electric Garden, Brooklyn, New York (7)
Executive Producer: Jon Batiste
Co-Executive Producer: Ryan Lynn
Recorded by Russell Elevado,, Misha Kachkachishvili, Kizzo, Marc Whitmore, Alex Williams
Mixed by Marc Whitmore, Manny Marroquin, Ricky Reed
Mastered by Michelle Mancini
Photography by Suleika Jaouad
Art Direction: Ryan Rogers
Cover Art: Karla Cordova
Design: Cindy Nguyen
Review:
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 (AllMusic)
