Stephen Colbert hires Jon Batiste to be ‘Late Show’ bandleader

Even though Stephen Colbert may no longer be working with Comedy Central, he is still figuring out a way somehow to work with someone named Jon. Today, he announced that Jon Batiste is going to be the official bandleader for his version of “The Late Show” when it premieres on CBS come September 8. We’re not altogether familiar with his work, so for those of you who are in the same boat, here is how the network described him in a press release (per Deadline):

“Jon Batiste, a musician, educator and humanitarian from New Orleans, has performed internationally with his band, Stay Human, and has collaborated with acclaimed musicians, including Prince, Wynton Marsalis and Lenny Kravitz. Hailing from a long line of celebrated musicians in Louisiana, Batiste grew up playing percussion and then piano in his family’s band before studying at the Juilliard School, where he received his undergraduate and master’s degrees.”

Finding a bandleader is a very important part of any late-night show, since you ideally want to find someone who is not only extremely skilled musically, but also someone who has some comic timing and can have good chemistry with the host. This is what made Paul Shaffer and David Letterman such a dynamic duo, and the same goes for Jimmy Fallon and Questlove or recently James Corden and Reggie Watts.

Colbert also posted a video through CBS showing off some of Batiste’s New Orleans sound for the first time, and interestingly enough, this video also makes us hungry for some new baked goods.

If you want to see another video of Colbert talking about his new gig right now, head over to the link here! Also, you can sign up today to get a variety of other TV updates on everything we cover, courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Comedy Central.)

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