After a New Orleans childhood in which he was weaned on jazz, the pianist Jonathan Batiste, now 26, moved to New York City and encountered its eclectic music scene, with clubs featuring rock, hip-hop, even bluegrass and jazz acts, sometimes all in the same night.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Jonathan Batiste.
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Billie Holiday songs can be heard at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
"In New Orleans, there's a spirit in the air everywhere you go, and that spirit is the unifying factor that makes New Orleans so beautiful and unique," Mr. Batiste said, "but it also makes it insular and specific to just that region." New York, on the other hand, "is a choose-your-own-adventure sort of scene."
"You don't have a cohesive theme, and everything is part of it," he said. "Whatever it is you want to get into, at any given time, you can find it in New York."
That diversity, Mr. Batiste said, is reflected in his new album with his Stay Human Band, "Social Music," which combines elements from his upbringing like riffs off Mardi Gras Indian songs with funk, hip-hop and new age. "There's something for everybody," he said of the album — just like his adopted city.
Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Batiste on exploring New York's music scene.
Q. To hear a mix of musical styles, where do you go?
A. The platform of the Bedford stop off the L train. It's the whole idea of New York having that 160 cultures in one place, a global melting pot. I've seen Morgan O'Kane there playing banjo, and the style is really folk and bluegrass. Saw this guy named Jovan Johnson playing some soul trombone with a loop pedal, there by himself. That was really awesome. I even saw Lightning Bolt, this punk, super-intense rock duet. To see that kind of stuff out in the open, on a platform, is pretty ridiculous.
Any musical venues you like?
I'm the type of person who, unless it's an amazing show with pyrotechnics and dancing, and even then it's tough, I prefer music in smaller venues where the acoustics are great and it's like you're in someone's living room. That's the vibe at the Heath on the top floor of the McKittrick Hotel. It's a speakeasy, no more than 200 people. And the back has this feel of, you know the old sleeper trains people used to go one state to the next in back in the day? It's a beautiful place to go to hang out. I know Jim James from My Morning Jacket played at McKittrick, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was in residence there.
Rockwood Music Hall — that has everything from established acts to up-and-coming indie stars: Gary Clark Jr., Jason Lindner. There are three different stages; my preference is stage two. They have tables around the stage, so you're looking right up at the performer, and everyone's behind there, at the bar, on the balcony. You'd be really crammed in, four shows a night.
The Cutting Room is a big space, and it's as if you're walking into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: the bar is shaped liked a guitar, with a fretboard at the end. The stage has this incredible awning, really regal looking, but then you sit in the audience and it's cozy. The food is great: good down-home food like macaroni and cheese and ribs.
Any spots where you can learn about New York's musical history?
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem [Mr. Batiste is artistic director at large]. They have performances and exhibitions. For one, they have the Savory Collection, a treasure-chest of recordings of old radio broadcasts of artists like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, done by this guy William Savory. The one I was really surprised by was the live version of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit." That's such a deep one. To hear her sing it live, it's incredible.
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