‘American Symphony’ Exclusive: Jon Batiste Opens Up About Sharing His And Wife Suleika Jaouad’s Love Onscreen

At
the
top
of
December,

Netflix
added
a
new
documentary
from
Academy
Award-nominated
and
Emmy
Award-winning
director
Matthew
Heineman
called

American
Symphony.

Source:
Erika
Goldring
/
Getty
Images
for
Netflix

‘American
Symphony’
Is
A
Groundbreaking
Netflix
Documentary

The
film
follows
multi-instrumentalist

Jon
Batiste
during
what
proved
to
be
one
of
the
most
pivotal
years
of
his
life.
At
the
top
of
2022,
Batiste
finds
himself
with

eleven
Grammy
nominations
including
Album
of
the
Year.
Rather
than
resting
on
these
laurels,
Jon
instead
was
pushing
through
another
challenging
feat,
composing
“American
Symphony”,
an
original
symphony
that
continued
to
push
classical
traditions
with
plans
for
a
performance
at
Carnegie
Hall.
With
his
professional
life
busier
than
ever,
Batiste
and
his
life
partner
–
best-selling
author
Suleika
Jaouad
–
are
faced
with
the
daunting
news
that
her
long
dormant
cancer
has
returned.
It’s
a
love
story
and
a
life
story
that
we
found
to
be
one
of
the
most
moving
films
we
watched
this
year.

Batiste
spoke
with
GlobalGrind
Sr.
Content
Director
Janeé
Bolden
earlier
this
month.
Check
out
their
Q&A
below:

GlobalGrind:
Going
in
to
make
the
film,
did
you
know
exactly
what
it
was
going
to
be
or
was
it
a
matter
of
taking
all
everything
that
had
been
filmed
and
making
it
make
sense
from
there
?

Jon
Batiste:
Yes
there
was
1500
hours
of
footage,
so
at
the
end
of
the
day,
it
was
really
a
choice
that
was
made
in
the
edit
room,
and
the
commitment
through
the
filming
process
was
to
just
be
vulnerable
and
be
open,
allowing
for
everything
to
be
captured
and
to
find
where
the
line
was,
in
terms
of
protecting
our
family.
Even
just
in
that
time
you’re
dealing
with
another
wave
of
COVID,
Suleika’s
immune
system
was
down
and
we
were
traveling
and
going
playing
whether
it
was
the
Grammys
or
me
being
on
the
set
and
doing
television,
the
shows,
there’s
so
many
things
that
we
had
to
find
the
the
boundary
line
of
and
then
at
the
end
of
the
day
just
make
make
the
story
from
all
of
that
footage.

Source:
Courtesy
/
Netflix

Jon
Batiste
Has
A
Hard
Time
Watching
‘American
Symphony’
Because
It’s
Hard
To
Relive
Those
Emotions

GlobalGrind:
It
can
be
tough
to
watch
yourself
onscreen,
and
this
project
is
particularly
intimate,
was
there
anything
you
found
especially
difficult
to
watch?

Jon
Batiste:
It’s
difficult
for
me
to
watch
the
film
and
I’ve
seen
different
versions
of
it,
in
the
process
of
really
getting
a
sense
of
what
Matt
was
making,
but
once
the
final
version
came
out,
I
was
at
the
premiere
and
since
then
I
really
haven’t
been
able
to
watch
the
film
so
much,
just
because
it’s
so
hard
to,
not
only
see
myself,
but
to
relive
some
of
the
emotions.
In
that
time
I
was
so
focused
on
forward
motion
and
just
moving
to
to
the
next
place
of
healing
and
the
next
place
of
progress
and
having
great
intentions.
It
was
a
lot
to
achieve
that,
so
going
back
to
that
is
tough.

GG:
I
can
only
imagine
and
I
know
part
of
it
is
being
a
busy
person,
obviously
sometimes
you
don’t
sit
and
take
the
time
to
really
process
what
you’re
going
through,
have
you
taken
that
time
to
process?

Jon
Batiste:
Wow.
Yeah
it’s
allowed
for
me
in
both
conversations
like
we’re
having
and
even
throughout
the
film
you
hear
the
the
voiceover,
most
of
it
was
either
in
conversation
with
Matt
or
conversations
Matt
was
recording
with
the
mic
that
I
had
on,
that
I
was
just
processing
in
real
time.
There’s
even
conversations
with
my
therapist
in
there
where
you
hear
in
the
moment,
that’s
how
I
was
able
to
kind
of
keep
the
momentum,
is
processing
it
in
real
time.

Source:
Courtesy
/
Netflix

GG:
One
of
the
other
things
that
grabbed
my
attention
was
all
the
hoopla
over
the
Grammy
nominations,
the
negativity
that
you
seemed
to
process
well,
but
you
did
vent
some,
especially
about
the
industry
darling
commentary.
How
ridiculous
were
some
of
the
things
that
people
were
saying?
How
did
you
come
to
the
place
where
you
were
just
like,
‘I’m
just
going
to
do
me’
and
have
tunnel
vision?

Jon
Batiste:
Yeah
it’s
crazy
because,
when
you
have
so
many
things
working
against
you,
and
the
culture
is,
in
a
certain
way
toxic,
it’s
poison
in
certain
areas,
obviously
there’s
greatness
in
the
culture,
but
there’s
always
for
me
looking
at
criticism,
and
looking
at
what
the
media
portrays,
especially
certain
representations
of
us.
It’s
like
there’s
a
lot
of
toxic
elements
to
it,
so
that
was
me
venting
and
having
just,
it’s
an
indictment
of
the
culture
that
somebody
like
me
would
not
be
recognized
for
what
and
who
I
am.
That
speaks
to
a
lot
of
what
our
problems
are,
bigger
than
just
the
music
industry,
and
understanding
that
just
really
it’s
a
constant
realization
it’s
a
part
of
being
conscious
and
it’s
a
battle
that
you
fight
by
continuing
to
make
quality
with
your
craft
and
just
continuing
to
be
great.

Source:
Erika
Goldring
/
Getty
Images
for
Netflix

Jon
Batiste
Wants
To
Return
To
His
American
Symphony,
Says
It
Isn’t
Meant
To
Ever
Be
Finished

GG:
Making
this
multi-genre
music,
the
kind
of
music
that
can
get
you
Grammys
across
classical,
jazz,
all
the
different
categories,
what’s
next
for
you?
What
is
the
next
challenge?

Jon
Batiste:
I
really
want
to
play
the
Symphony
again.
It’s
not
something
that’s
ever
meant
to
be
finished.
It’s
meant
to
be
identifiable,
it’s
meant
to
be
a
vehicle,
it’s
really
meant
to
be
a
vessel
for
a
certain
type
of
expression
that
was
missing
in
the
canon
and
now
that
it
exists,
it
allows
for
possibilities
of
people
to
play
it
in
all
these
different
ways
and
for
it
to
evolve
and
continue
to
expand
and
it’s
the
same
with
you
know
any
kind
of
creative
outlet
that
I
make.
I
always
try
to
make
it
a
vehicle
to
create
community,
and
broaden
the
expression
and
have
room
for
a
lot
of
representations
of
excellence.
So
I
just
want
to
keep
building
things
like
that
and
the
Symphony
is
one
of
them
that
I
want
to
repeat
in
different
ways,
in
different
parts
of
the
world.

GG:
I
think
I
saw

Infinity
Song
singing
in
your
orchestra,
is
that
right?

Jon
Batiste:
Yeah
we
go
way
back.
They’re
really
close
friends,
like
family.
We
have
a
similar
journey.
When
I
was
with
[his
band]
Stay
Human
and
I
was
still
at
Julliard
and
we
would
go
down
from
Lincoln
Center
and
play
in
the
subways,
they
as
a
family
would
also
be
doing
performances
on
the
subways
and
the
streets
of
New
York
and
we
met
way
back
then
and
have
been
working
on
music
and
doing
things
together
ever
since.

Source:
Erika
Goldring
/
Getty
Images
for
Netflix

Global
Grind:
I
love
to
witness
your
love,
so
thank
you
for
making
it
public
for
the
world
to
see.
I
don’t
think
we
celebrate
love
enough.

Jon
Batiste:
Yes
indeed,
wow
I’m
so
grateful
to
hear
that.
It’s
just
a
big
commitment
to
open
the
doors
and
share,
but
I
do
think
it’s
something
that,
at
this
time,
it’s
worth
sharing
and
worth
giving
up
that
privacy.
There’s
also
this
loneliness
epidemic,
where
people,
especially
if
you’re
in
the
public
eye,
there’s
a
sense
that
you
are
exempt
from
the
human
condition
and
suffering,
and
all
of
the
good
things
and
all
of
the
tough
things
together.
When
people
see
that,
it
really
is
powerful
and
it
makes
people
know
that
they’re
not
alone
out
here,
so
I’m
glad
to
hear
that.

Source:
Erika
Goldring
/
Getty
Images
for
Netflix

While
in
New
Orleans
recently,
former
first
lady
Michelle
Obama
and
Academy
Award
and
Grammy-winning
musician

Jon

Batiste
sat
down
to
talk
life,
love,
and
how
art
and
music
can
heal.

Jon

and
Mrs.
Obama
even
bonded
over
their
shared
wedding
songs
“Unforgettable”