I think it's important for people to stay human and remember that genuine human connection is more fulfilling than anything that technology has to offer. We all have it within us, and music is something that can bring that out of us.
Jon BatisteRead
There's a tradition - in New Orleans it still exists - where people play in the street. People play outside of the venues. Food, music, and that cultural exchange, it happens anywhere.
Interpretation
New Orleans embodies a unique tradition of music and cultural exchange happening in public spaces.
Jon Batiste highlights the vibrant cultural tradition of New Orleans, where music and food are not confined to specific venues but are enjoyed openly in the streets. This practice fosters a sense of community and shared experience, celebrating the joy of life through cultural expression and involvement in public spaces.
In practice
During a community event, I shared a quote that captures the spirit of our local culture.
I think it's important for people to stay human and remember that genuine human connection is more fulfilling than anything that technology has to offer. We all have it within us, and music is something that can bring that out of us.
In a live performance, it's a collaboration with the audience; you ride the ebb and flow of the crowd's energy. On television, you don't have that.
The beauty of jazz is that it can accommodate all styles. You can take jazz and put rock in it, and it's still jazz.
The music is really about sharing an experience. That's why we call it Stay Human. It's like we're sharing this genuine human exchange.
I'm from Kenner, Louisiana, where music is played for every occasion in life. There's music for being born, there's music for dying... It's just natural. Families get really good because they play a lot together.
The subway in New York is a great social experiment; there are so many races and ways of life sitting together on each car.
Pop culture has entered into a nostalgic malaise. Online culture is dominated by trivial mashups of the culture that existed before the onset of mashups, and by fandom responding to the dwindling outposts of centralized mass media. It is a culture of reaction without action.
A bicultural upbringing is a rich but imperfect thing
My career means, if you're a non-Indian writing about Indians, at least there's one Indian in your rearview mirror.
If you decide to move to another country and to live within its laws you don't express your disregard for the essence of the culture. It's a form of aggression.
Hollywood likes to put actors in boxes, and it likes to put Asian actors in really small boxes.
But I feel music has a very important role in ritual activity, and that being able to join in musical activity, along with dancing, could have been necessary at a very early stage of human culture.
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