Expand<\/a><\/p>\nIn order to focus on his solo career, Batiste left \u201cColbert\u201d in August of 2022. That was barely four months after he became the first Black artist in 14 years to win Album of the Year honors at the Grammy Awards. A seven-time Grammy-winner, he also earned an Oscar and a Golden Globe for composing the jazz-driven score to the Disney-Pixar film, \u201cSoul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Performing at The Shell Friday for a loudly enthusiastic audience of 4,138, Batiste began by declaring his mission statement for the evening.\u00a0\u201cThis is a celebration of life. We\u2019re going to heal you,\u201d he said. Those sentiments were reinforced by a banner that hung over the stage. It read: \u201cThis is the circus of love. Under our tent there is revival and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seated at a grand piano, Batiste opened with a 25-minute solo set that showcased his charismatic stagecraft, alternately dazzling and earthy keyboard work, soaring vocals and ability to fuse different styles into a wonderfully engaging musical gumbo.<\/p>\n
His first selection was \u201c5th Symphony in Congo Square.\u201d A standout track from his 2024 album, \u201cBeethoven Blues: Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1,\u201d it found him deftly combing the opening movement of Beethoven\u2019s Fifth Symphony with jazz, blues, boogie-woogie and early rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. Batiste did so with such skill, joy and verve, his playing at times suggested a heady jam session by Keith Jarrett, Fats Waller, Yuja Wang and Allen Toussaint.<\/p>\n
Batiste was equally impressive with his stellar reinvention of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d which juxtaposed moments of tender reflection with exuberant stride and barrelhouse piano romps worthy of a New Orleans speakeasy. Then came his sublime version of the 1967 Louis Armstrong gem, \u201cWhat a Wonderful World,\u201d which showcased Batiste\u2019s supple falsetto vocals and his deft interjection of a snippet of Beethoven\u2019s \u201cMoonlight Sonata.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had Batiste concluded his solo set at this point, it would have been a triumph. Instead, he delivered a splendid medley of Leonard Cohen\u2019s elegiac \u201cHallelujah,\u201d Tupac Shakur\u2019s gritty \u201cChanges\u201d (which features the piano motif from Bruce Hornsby\u2019s \u201cThe Way It Is\u201d), and The Impressions\u2019 perpetually uplifting \u201cIt\u2019s All Right.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was then that his brassy, three-woman, six-man band joined Batiste on stage and ripped into his propulsive 2021 rave-up, \u201cI Need You,\u201d which had the crowd on its feet and featured exhilarating, Etta James-inspired vocal swoops and wails by Desiree Washington. Performing with a winning combination of in-the-moment fluidity and pinpoint precision, the star of the night and his group instantly ignited.<\/p>\n
The concert kicked into even higher gear with the next three selections, all presented in extended form. They included: \u201cAmerican Requiem\u201d (the Grammy-winning song Batiste co-wrote for Beyonce\u2019s \u201cCowboy Carter\u201d album); \u201cFreedom\u201d (which found him adroitly channeling Prince and James Brown, including on a series of high-octane, \u201csoul power!\u201d call-and-response vocal exchanges with the audience); and \u201cBig Money\u201d (the dance-happy, thought-provoking title track from his ninth and newest album).<\/p>\n
So far, so great.<\/p>\n
![\"Jon](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758413052_403_SUT-L-MUSIC-BATISTE-0920-01.jpg\")
Jon Batiste and Andra Day performed together Friday night at The Shell. (George Varga \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
But things faltered notably with the next number, \u201cPetrichor,\u201d a touching, save-the-planet environmental plea anchored by a snappy beat that evoked the Mardi Gras staple, \u201cIko Iko.\u201d On Batiste\u2019s \u201cBig Money\u201d album, \u201cPetrichor\u201d clocks in at a crisp 2 minutes, 38 seconds. On Friday, he and his band stretched the song out to nine momentum-stifling minutes that included a violin hoedown that added little to the proceedings.<\/p>\n
Only then, 19 minutes before The Shell\u2019s 10 p.m. curfew, did Batiste finally bring out Day, the Grammy and Golden Globe-winning singer and actress who grew up in San Diego. Together, they did an elongated, 10-minute version of \u201cLean On My Love,\u201d their recent gospel-fueled duet.<\/p>\n
Day soared, but she and Batiste repeated the chorus so many times that it ultimately diluted the song\u2019s potent message of resiliency and compassion in times of despair. Their decision to segue from \u201cLean\u201d into a lively excerpt from the Chick Corea Latin-jazz classic, \u201cSpain,\u201d was intriguing, at least in theory. But \u201cSpain\u201d would have worked much better had it been performed, in full, on its own at a concert not facing an impending curfew.<\/p>\n
Batiste and Day then sat down to deliver a luminous, voice-and-piano rendition of the 1939 Billie Holiday gem, \u201cGod Bless the Child,\u201d which Day previously performed in her Oscar-nominated title role in the 2021 film, \u201cThe United State vs. Billie Holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the most moving and musically intimate moment of the night and Day earned a sustained ovation for her impassioned vocal performance. But the moment the song concluded \u2014 only three minutes before the curfew \u2014 she had to dash off the stage.<\/p>\n
Considering that Day was co-billed at the concert, it was a major disappointment she was featured on only two numbers and that she was unable to perform her signature song, \u201cRise Up.\u201d Had Batiste taken the stage at 8:15 p.m. Friday, as originally scheduled, instead of going on 22 minutes late at 8:37 p.m., Day would not have been relegated to a truncated, two-song cameo.<\/p>\n
With the clock ticking, Batiste launched into a two-minute solo take on Fats Domino\u2019s \u201cBlueberry Hill,\u201d followed by a sing-along version of his touching 2023 ballad, \u201cButterfly.\u201d His band rejoined him at 10:02 p.m. and, after completing \u201cButterfly\u201d with an overly long guitar solo, they concluded with a rollicking Dixieland-jazz rendition of \u201cYou Are My Sunshine\u201d that saluted Batiste\u2019s Louisiana roots.<\/p>\n
With better timing \u2014 perhaps singer-songwriter Diana Silvers\u2019 very pleasant opening set could have been scheduled for 7 p.m. instead of 7:30? \u2014 and a bigger slot for Day, Jon Batiste\u2019s concert would have been an unqualified triumph. Here\u2019s hoping his timing will be better the next time he performs here.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: September 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So much was done so exceptionally well during Jon Batiste\u2019s San Diego performance Friday night that the first…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":242627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,171,5424,3549,3550,7264,1072,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-242626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-music-and-concerts","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-county","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-things-to-do","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115239365662206421","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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