JON BATISTE
World Music Radio (Decca)
World Music Radio is not just a reflection of American polymath Jon Batiste’s vocal ability and impressive talent as a musician – it’s a triumphant celebration of music on a global scale. Following his powerful Grammy-winning We Are, released in 2021, Batiste’s liberating sound is conjugated through a 1950s-style radio show concept: similar to The Weeknd’s Dawn FM, but with incredible substance.
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This isnot your conventional album, rather a collaborative musical Bible with different points of view. Hello, Billy Bob is an invitation to the World Music Radio experience, succeeded by Raindance and Be Who You Are – both sonically uplifting, and drawing influences from Latin American music and K-Pop. later, the assistance of trombonist Rita Payes on My Heart and saxophonist Kenny G on Clair De Lune reflects Batiste’s passion for classical music.
Jon Batiste proves here that he’s a master manipulator of genre: injecting notes of funk, disco, pop and chill r’n’b into a body of work, imposing a powerful statement reinforcing that all music is world music.
words ROWAN DAVIES