Stephen Colbert Has Announced His New Bandleader…
Stephen Colbert has named Jonathan Batiste his bandleader for The Late Show on CBS.
Batiste, only 28 years old, is a rising star in the music scene. Baptiste has made his mark performing with band Stay Human, was a featured artist at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game and has collaborated with artists such as Prince, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Ellis, Art and Ivan Neville, Lenny Kravitz, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, and Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others.
Baptiste and the Stay Human band has some huge shoes to fill, replacing Paul Shaffer & the CBS Late Night Orchestra, who were an integral part of the show.
He has also worked in television, appearing as himself on the second and third season of HBO’s series Treme. Recently, Batiste also appeared as T.K. Hazelton in Spike Lee’s film, Red Hook Summer. His most recent album, Social Music, became the #1 Jazz Album on the Billboard Charts. ARTINFO named Batiste one of the “30 Under 30” most influential people in the art world today.
Late Show With Stephen Colbert will premiere on September 8th.
Watch Colbert introduce Batiste here:
