Jon Batiste announces new solo piano album Black Mozart
Multi-Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar winner Jon Batiste has announced his next three studio albums, beginning with Black Mozart (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 2). The album, which is set for a June 19 release on Decca Records US, features Batiste reimagining the classical tradition through a Black American musical lens.
The project marks the second installment in Batiste’s solo piano series, following the success of 2024’s Beethoven Blues. On Black Mozart, Batiste incorporates influences from jazz, rags, stride, and blues while maintaining the core essence of classical music.
“I reimagined Mozart ‘Black,’ imbuing it with influences from jazz, rags, stride, blues, and stomps but still maintaining its core essence of modern classical music,” Batiste said. He described the composer as “a bridge that eventually led to the modern age.”
Batiste also announced today that Batiste Piano Series Volumes 3 and 4 will focus on Thelonious Monk. Titled Monk Meditations and Monk Movements, both albums are scheduled for release on Verve Records on August 14. Batiste intended for the three upcoming albums to “curate a musical conversation between Monk and Mozart with me at the piano, honoring them and contributing to their kindred legacies.”
Regarding Monk’s influence, Batiste noted, “He is my favorite pianist of all time – not just jazz pianist, any style pianist. The way he hears the harmony and the sound he produces on piano is something that should be applied to all styles of playing.”
While Monk Meditations is described as a new-age meditation album, Monk Movements reimagines straight-ahead jazz compositions into long-form virtuosic piano movements.
Batiste, who recently won Best Americana Album for Big Money at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, is currently on his “Jon Batiste Live: A Fantastical Musical Journey” tour. His upcoming schedule includes symphonic performances, international festival dates, and select stadium appearances as a special guest for Tyler Childers.
Click here to pre save/pre order Black Mozart.
Click here to pre order Monk Meditations.
Click here to pre order Monk Movements.
