- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 23
- Melrose Group Publicly Files Complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin to talk gas deliveries
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Mbappe back from 'bottom' as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- France kept on tenterhooks over new government
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- 'Nervous' Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- 2 US pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: military
- Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth, Chelsea held at Everton
- France awaits fourth government of the year
- Germany pledges security inquest into Christmas market attack
- Death toll in Brazil bus crash rises to 41
Jon Batiste: jazz master leading this year's Grammy pack
This year's Grammys shortlists feature a number of bona fide pop megastars including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and overnight sensation Olivia Rodrigo. And then there is... Jon Batiste.
The 35-year-old jazzman is the top nominee with 11 chances to take home a gold gramophone, but he's not exactly a household name outside music circles.
The musical talent and artistic vision of Batiste, the Oscar-winning scion of a prominent New Orleans musical dynasty, have made him an industry mainstay for years, a red carpet regular with a prodigious body of work and an eye towards social justice.
He has recorded with legendary artists from Stevie Wonder to Prince to Willie Nelson, and is perhaps best known to the wider American public as the bandleader and musical director of Stephen Colbert's popular late night comedy show.
He is also the creative director of Harlem's National Jazz Museum, and last year took home an Oscar, Golden Globe and a BAFTA for co-composing the soundtrack of Pixar's animated hit "Soul" with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The sleeper nominations frontrunner -- who nabbed three Grammy nods in past years but has yet to win -- will go up against flashy, big-budget releases from artists including Bieber and Rodrigo in major categories including Album and Record of the Year.
Batiste is also up for awards in fields spanning genre and medium, including R&B, jazz, American roots and contemporary classical. He is also in contention for Best Music Video.
"WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I'm so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors," he tweeted after the nomination lists were released last fall.
- 'Subconscious emotion' -
Born on November 11, 1986 in Louisiana, Batiste began playing drums and other percussion instruments as a child with his family, which includes a long line of gospel and jazz artists.
He switched to the piano as a pre-teen, releasing his debut album "Times in New Orleans" at age 17.
A classmate of Trombone Shorty, Batiste graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in 2004, going on to attend New York's prestigious Juilliard school, where he completed both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music.
He became a mainstay of the jazz community, releasing a number of recording projects and performing across the globe.
He and his band Stay Human secured the high-profile "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" gig starting in 2015, bringing his music to millions of eyes each weeknight.
In recent years, Batiste has emerged as a voice of social justice, notably taking part in June 2020's Juneteenth celebration in Brooklyn as protests raged over the police murder of a Black man, George Floyd.
In March 2021, he released his eighth studio album "We Are," which he has said he put together largely prior to the mass protests as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, but whose content offered prescient messages of hope and community.
A genre-spanning effort that fuses jazz with soul, hip-hop, pop and R&B, Batiste has called the record "a culmination of my life to this point."
"You know the music is something that speaks to a subconscious emotion, and it felt like something that we all were feeling in 2020, and the music just brings it to the surface in a way that I think, nothing else can," he told the online music magazine Atwood in 2021.
"It's a universal language."
Ch.Havering--AMWN