- 2024-10-10
-
MUSIC
-
Jon Batiste Announces New Album “Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1)”, Shares New Single “Für Elise - Batiste”
American singer-songwriter and Jazz pianist Jon Batiste has announced his first solo piano album “Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1)” will be released on November 15, 2024.
The album is his first solo classical piano album and eighth studio album overall, following the 2023 album “World Music Radio”.
The album comprises a 11-track, which he performed classical works into blues or gospel songs.
From the album, he released the first single “Für Elise - Batiste” on October 9, 2024.
He first performed the song on CNN last October.
The track was written by Ludwig van Beethoven and produced by Jon Batiste.
“For each work on the album, the starting point was one of Beethoven's original compositions,” Jon Batiste said of the album. “From there, I created something new at the piano, in real time. Spontaneous composition is a practice that's all but lost in classical music, which can sometimes feel overly canonized. Recording this album was a deeply spiritual experience. It allowed me to honor Beethoven's transcendent artistry while bringing his work into dialogue with my own creative journey.”- Jon Batiste shared on social media, “This whole album is profoundly beautiful and I can't wait for you to hear it!!!!!! Since childhood I've made a practice of interpolating classical piano music as if it were my own. I was often drawn to be in conversation with Beethoven's music. Many have asked if I'd ever record MY version of a classical piano album, and especially since my recent interview with Chris Wallace...so here it is! The first performance I'm sharing from the album is the full version of what I played in the interview, entitled 'Für Elise-Batiste'”
Jon Batiste told The Associated Press about the album, “The approach is to think about, if I were both in conversation with Beethoven, but also if Beethoven himself were here today, and he was sitting at the piano, what would the approach be? And blending both, you know, my approach to artistry and creativity and what my imagined approach of how a contemporary Beethoven would approach these works.” -
Jon Batiste said of “Für Elise-Batiste”, “I love this part in 'Für Elise-Batiste' as you can see by my huge grin. Beethoven himself was a master improviser—or as I like to call it, spontaneous composition. Improvisation is often looked at as less significant and less thoroughly rigorous than composition. The implication is that it's unstudied, unrehearsed, out of nowhere-when, really, some of the greatest compositions in history may have been made upon the spot, having come out of decades of practice and study.
The legendary Thelonious Monk once said, 'A genius is the one who is most like himself.' I love that quote because it speaks to authenticity. It speaks to the need to be exactly who you are, and to do the thing that is most innate to you. Nobody else has your specific talents, your interests, your experience, your skills, or your perspective. If you channel that kind of authentic expression, you bring things into the world that nobody else ever has or will. All you need is some imagination-because it's up to you to create the blueprint for the thing you want to see in the world.
I love imagination. I love that something in your mind that's not real can become real. You can bend and shape and mold and push back against the world around you. If no one has done it yet, you can think about doing something. It doesn't have to be make-believe; it can be real.” - source : Apple Music
