Review: JON BATISTE Brings His Musical Genius to BOSTON POPS at Symphony Hall

When it came time for Keith Lockhart to introduce singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist Jon Batiste on the first night of his recent three-night engagement as special guest star with the Boston Pops, the conductor didn’t hesitate to make clear where he stands on the New Orleans native, calling him a “genius” and “one of the greatest musicians alive today.”

There are few performers who wouldn’t revel in that kind of heady introduction, and even fewer who truly deserve it. The Academy, Emmy, and seven-time Grammy Award-winning singer – who made his Symphony Hall debut May 12–14 is widely considered worthy of Lockhart’s praise and more.

At age 39, Batiste is already a legend for his genre-defying approach and his commitment to inclusivity. His ninth studio album, “Big Money,” won the 2026 Grammy for Best Americana Album. He last performed with the Pops and Lockhart for the 2021 July 4 Fireworks Spectacular, which was held live at, and broadcast worldwide from, Tanglewood.

Before Batiste took the stage with the Pops, Lockhart had led the orchestra through “Three Preludes” by George Gershwin as well as “All Blues Reimagined (for Miles)” by Colon, originally heard on Miles Davis’s 1959 album, “Kind of Blue,” and long considered to be one of the most renowned jazz standards in music history.

Batiste then joined the Pops accompanied by his own quartet – saxophonist Marcus G. Miller, Reginald Veal on bass, drummer Herlin Riley, and vocalist Desz – immediately launching into a thrillingly performed set beginning with the 1930 Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell song “Georgia on My Mind,” which became Ray Charles’s signature song when he took it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. For Batiste’s Pops performance, the song became “Boston on My Mind.”

To open the second half of his program, Batiste cued up the Bob Thiele and George David Weiss song “What a Wonderful World,” recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967, which topped the UK pop charts the following year and made it to the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1988 after being included on the soundtrack of the feature film, “Good Morning, Vietnam.”

The former bandleader and music director of CBS-TV’s “Late Night with Stephen Colbert” wisely sang both songs his own unique way, not trying to capture the feeling of either Charles’ or Armstrong’s immediately recognizable vocals.

Powerhouse R&B singer Desz, a finalist on season 19 of NBC-TV’s “The Voice,” lent her soaring vocals to “Cry,” a 2021 song by Batiste and Steve McEwen from “We Are,” which won Album of the Year for Batiste at the 2022 Grammy Awards.  The title song from “Big Money,” Batiste’s 2025 album, was also well received by the performer’s clearly besotted audience.

In his second set, Batiste and the Pops performed “American Symphony,” a composition whose creation was captured in the 2023 Netflix documentary of the same name. Later, Batiste once again tickled the ivories on a splendid rendering of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” which, while it included vocals, was mainly an instrumental.

Whether singing, playing the piano, or both, the warmly charming Batiste had the capacity crowd in the palm of his hand. They even heeded his call to raise their cellular telephones like long ago concertgoers used to hold their cigarette lighters aloft at pop and rock concerts. Light filled the iconic concert hall like never before in a wildly enthusiastic embrace of a singular artist.

Photo caption: Jon Batiste in concert with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall on May 12, 2026. Photo by Hilary Scott.

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