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.
I was torn between the Americanness my mom wanted for me and the Mexicanness my father wanted - they were wrestling for cultural influence over me.
We usually forget that apart from making a living on this earth, human beings live in societies and these societies have cultures. It is only through having cultures that mankind on this earth has an ordered and meaningful life. Music and drama are two of the many important manifestation of a culture. They are important because they represent the expressions emanating from the power of human artistic creativity
Here in Cameroon, football is our leading political party. It's football alone that that unites us, it's football alone that brings us good things - football is the window into our country - so we don't mess around with it.
The working-class black Southern Christian culture I come from still nurtures me, and I mean directly, daily.
When the culture is strong, you've got this consistency where black people can grow up in these places with this voice just resonating about our special-ness in the universe. And I always say you're in trouble if you get too far away from that core that grounds you.
What are the symbols of American strength, wealth, power and modernity? Certainly not jazz and rock and roll, not chewing-gum or hamburgers, Broadway or Hollywood. It's their skyscrapers. Their Pentagon. Their science. Their technology.
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