How Jon Batiste makes music out of thin air

Electric Lady Studios, a recording studio in New York City’s Greenwich Village, has a lot of history in its hallowed halls.

Some of the greatest pop and rock artists of all time, including Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and Taylor Swift, have recorded there.

Composer and musician Jon Batiste recorded his album “We Are,” at Electric Lady Studios. That album won a Grammy for Album of the Year and now occupies a place of prestige on the wall. 

“I just wanted to show you,” Batiste told Whitaker, pointing to the album. “That was a huge honor for me, because I remember when I was coming here and being inspired by the albums that were on the wall.”

Batiste recorded new music at Electric Lady and invited Whitaker and 60 Minutes to watch his creative process up close. 

Sitting at a piano next to bassist Endea Owens and drummer Steve Jordan, Batiste laid jazzy piano chords over Jordan’s beat. Owens followed Batiste with a bass line. 

“The music sort of had peaks and valleys. The most incredible thing was none of it was written down. There was not a piece of sheet music anywhere in sight,” Whitaker said in an interview. 

“And yet the other musicians, the bass and the drums, were able to keep up with him. They’re sort of on, like, the same wavelength.”

Batiste told Whitaker he always writes music this way. He and other band members will improvise a piece of music, he’ll listen to the playback later, and then decide what to do with it next. 

“And we may arrange that or organize that or replay it, now that the inspiration is captured. But either way, that can become a song or a composition or a symphony. It could become anything.”

Batiste said “intention” and listening are important when it comes to creating improvised music with a group of musicians. 

“You come in, and you have an intention in how you’re listening. And then you understand what’s happening on an intuitive level,” Batiste said, adding, “When I think about technical facility and all of that, that’s important to understand. But what’s deeper than that is understanding what is the intention of what you’re doing together.” 

“You are technically proficient here,” Whitaker told Batiste. “But it transcends that.”

“The important part is the transcend part, not the technical part,” Batiste emphasized. “You could have all the chops and no gravy.”

The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Warren Lustig and Scott Rosann.