Jon Batiste is styled by Sam Broekema for ‘In Tune’, lensed by Christian Cody for InStyle US January 2021./ Hair by Jenna Robinson; makeup by Jesse Lindholm

InStyle Editor in Chief Laura Brown conducts the interview with Stephen Colbert’s ‘The Late Show’ bandleader, Jon Batiste. The player of 12 instruments and founder of the group Stay Human has been with Colbert for the past six years.

Baptiste and his Stay Human partners hit the streets of New York this past June, after the murder of George Floyd.

Jon Batiste on Collective Choices

“I find that we have a collective choice as a people to accept the truth or to live the lie. And in some cases, we have chosen to live the lie, which becomes a form of truth for a time. . . .
It gets to this point where it might as well be true. And we have power as humans; we’re always self-creating and making ourselves and our worlds what we envisioned in our mind. Our ideas are constantly becoming real life. So, my reaction was we need some truth tellers out here — and music has a way of uncovering the truth without words, without having to go too deep in the weeds of debate or dialogue. You can protest from a different perspective, without the dehumanizing impact of anger or feeling the need to prove your value. Everybody has value.”

Above video: Jon Batiste’s fir appearance @The Colbert Report on Aug. 1, 2014 — a much more wonderful time In New York.

Making Something As An Act of Divinity — 10,000 People Marching in Union Square, Summer 2020

“We were collectively asleep at the wheel in a lot of ways (reflecting on how America’s progressives got Trump). Besides creators like us, a lot of people weren’t in touch with what was happening in the culture. . . .

We live in that space. That’s why creators in any form are prophets. I led a protest in the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and put my life on the line by deciding to go out and march. Ten thousand people in the middle of Manhattan, in a pandemic, followed my band from Union Square to Herald Square. People stayed out there until midnight. That let me know that this is bigger than me, and when I realize stuff is bigger than me, it allows me to have more compassion and empathy. And I was praying for everybody, really. Even for Trump.”

Below video: Jon Batiste’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ NYC ‘We Are’ Protest June 6, 2020