Louisiana born and bred pianist Jon Batiste mixes his deep roots with explorations into the future during a recording of his 6 night residency last year at the Village Vanguard. The use of material from various nights make for a wide range of moods and bands, with Batiste having a core team of bassist Phil Kuehn and drummer Joe Saylor for just about every song, but at times including tenor saxist Tivon Pennicott as well as a larger ensemble of Patrick Bartley/as, Giveon Gelin/tp, Jon Lampley/tp and Louis Cato/g-perc. The result is Batiste linking up to what Bach originally inspired, “the honor of God and permissible delights of the soul,” with each song reflecting a different aspect of that devotion.
Batiste reveals his loyalties to Thelonious Monk, as on a trio format of his own composition “Creative” he mixes Spherical nuances with his own elegant swing, while his solo intro to the standard “’Round Midnight” has the pianist initially sliding inside and out to the soulful horns until Pennicott takes the bull by the horns with some Coltranesque passions on his tenor, ranging from shrieks to sighs.
Batiste never has the blues far from his fingers, and gives a rich solo intro to the luscious trio piece “Dusk Train To Doha” before he is rich and patient on an emotive duet with earth toned vocalist Rachael Price on a passionate and personal “The Very Thought Of You.” Batiste’s wide palate is further explored as his larger ensemble mixes modal moods alongside Crescent City pulses on the opus of a title track, with a mix of searing saxes taking the baton from Batiste’s explorations. One night with Batiste would not have captured all of his colors; this disc does the trick.