WE ARE (The Deluxe Edition)

“I like to use the inspiration from the past and combine it with the things that are in the present to create the future,” Jon Batiste says about WE ARE, a collection of autobiographical sketches that explore pivotal moments from his life and how they connect with his lineage. “We're finally at a point where we're starting to untangle the way that my grandparents, and even my parents, experienced America. It feels like the culmination in the coming of age of what many generations have built, fought for and poured into.” The Louisiana-born pianist, composer and bandleader/musical director of Stay Human, the house band for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, came up with the blueprint for the album during a six-day period from his dressing room at the Ed Sullivan Theater alongside singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe. But it took him eight months of bringing in the right collaborators to help meld his narrative with classic and modern styles of R&B, jazz, gospel, soul and hip-hop into a body-shaking celebration. “As heavy as these themes are, the overall message of the album is love, joy and community,” Batiste says. “That, and also the power of social revolution, in the sense of what we have to do in the culture to make room for everybody to be able to fully be who they are.” Here, Batiste guides us through his life journey. WE ARE “‘WE ARE’ is the overture of the album. I wanted to have the marching band from my high school on this record, because it's a historically Black high school that has a lot of legendary alumni. I was in that high school band and I graduated from that school. It also features three of four generations of my family. My grandfather and my nephews are all on this track. It was a really special one because it goes from Southern marching band culture to gospel to what I call 'horror disco', all within the span of four minutes.” TELL THE TRUTH “We recorded it at the legendary Sound City recording studios [in Los Angeles]. All of us were in the same ro