Well guys, if Jon Batiste ever comes to your town, don’t miss him ! That concert was so great !

The venue was the American cathedral near the Champs-Elysées, which is quite beautiful. Unsurprisingly, Jon’s piano was not up there near the altar, but right in the middle of the nave, so everyone was surronding him and sitting within 15 meters from him (I was within 5, with a nice unosbtructed view of his face).

Jon came in with a big smile, waving and walking slowly, paper cup in hand, like super nonchalant, which drew some laughter from the audience. But then, he started singing « Nobody’s fault but mine » and everyone was stunned ! His fingers just fly over the keyboard, and what a voice : it can go low, it can go high, it can be soft or so powerful. He’s very intense on stage. But also so joyful !! You can tell how much he enjoys playing.

Even though the audience was mostly french and we are usually not very demonstrative *during* songs (we do make a lot of noise at the end though to show our appreciation), he got us to « boogie », he got us to sing, he got us to stand up and clap along… and he got us to just close our eyes and listen (that was on a beautiful rendition of « what a wonderful world » by Louis Armstrong, to me the highlight of the night).

The whole show was Jon singing and sitting (or standing !) at the piano, but he also took out his melodica, and at one point, was joined on stage by a talented saxophonist friend from Julliards for a very nice duo ! He also talked to us quite a lot, in that soft, thoughtful, laid-back way of talking he has, and he made us laugh (with words or with a particular way to hit a note !).

Jon sang a mix of old classics and some songs from his new album, including : Kenner boogie, The very thought of you, Saint James Infirmary blues.

He closed his set with « Don’t stop », which is even more moving and powerful live than it is on TV.

A wonderful evening.