World
Jon Batiste's 'Beethoven Blues' transforms classical works into unique blues and gospel renditions
NEW YORK (AP) — When Grammy-award winner Jon Batiste was a kid, say, 9 or 10 years old, he moved between musical worlds — participating in local, classical piano competitions by day, then “gigging in night haunts in the heart of New Orleans.”
Free from the rigidity of genre, but also a dedicated student of it, his tastes wove into one another. He’d find himself transforming canonized classical works into blues or gospel songs, injecting them with the style-agnostic soulfulness he’s become known for. On Nov. 15, Batiste will release his first ever album of solo piano work, a collection of similar compositions.
Titled “Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1),” across 11 tracks, Batiste collaborates, in a way, with Beethoven, reimagining the German pianist’s instantly recognizable works into something fluid, extending across musical histories. Kicking off with the lead single “Für Elise-Batiste,” with its simple intro known the world over as one of the first pieces of music beginners learn on piano, he morphs the song into ebullient blues.
“My private practice has always been kind of in reverence to, of course, but also to demystify the mythology around these composers,” he told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of Wednesday’s album release announcement.
The album was written through a process called “spontaneous composition,” which he views as a lost art in classical music. It’s extemporization; Batiste sits at the piano and interpolates Beethoven’s masterpieces to make them his own.
“The approach is to think about, if I were both in conversation with Beethoven, but also if Beethoven himself were here today, and he was sitting at the piano, what would the approach be?” he explained. “And blending both, you know, my approach to artistry and creativity and what my imagined approach of how a contemporary Beethoven would approach these works.”
There is a division, he said, in a popular understanding of music where “pristine and preserved and European” genres are viewed as more valuable than “something that’s Black and sweaty and improvisational.” This album, like most of his work, disrupts the assumption.
Contrary to what many might think, Batiste said that Beethoven’s rhythms are African. “On a basic technical level, he’s doing the thing that African music ingenuity brought to the world, which is he’s playing in both a two meter and a three meter at once, almost all the time. He’s playing in two different time signatures at once, almost exclusively,” he said.
Batiste performs during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this year. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
“When you hear a drum circle, you know, the African diasporic tradition of playing in time together, you’re hearing multiple different meters happening at once,” he continued. “In general, he’s layering all of the practice of classical music and symphonic music with this deeply African rhythmic practice, so it’s sophisticated.”
“Beethoven Blues” honors that complexity. “I’m deeply repelled by the classism and the culture system that we’ve set up that degrades some and elevates others. And ultimately the main thing that I’m drawn in by is how excellence transcends race,” he said.
When these songs are performed live, given their spontaneous nature, they will never sound exactly like they do on record, and no two sets will be the same. “If you were to come and see me perform these works 10 times in a row, you’d hear not only a new version of Beethoven, but you would also get a completely new concert of Beethoven,” he said.
“Beethoven Blues” is the first in a piano series — just how many will there be, and over what time frame, and what they will look like? Well, he’s keeping his options open.
“The themes of the piano series are going to be based on, you know, whatever is timely for me in that moment of my development, whatever I’m exploring in terms of my artistry. It could be another series based on a composer,” he said.
“Or it could be something completely different.”
new video loaded: W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
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W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, told The New York Times on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo that swift international support was necessary to contain the Ebola virus, which is spreading rapidly there.
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“Of course there are different scenarios, but it’s in our hands. We move fast, we will catch up. If we don’t, it will be a very serious problem. So it’s time to really move fast.” A dire warning from the World Health Organization chief as we approach Ituri, the province at the center of Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak. More than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases and over 200 suspected deaths have been reported here. With no vaccines and no treatment for the virus species fueling the outbreak, containment is where immediate efforts should focus, health officials say. It’s not easy. Testing capacity is still very low. Protective supplies are short. Both the facilities for isolation and the region’s overall health care infrastructure are insufficient. “We cannot tell them what the problem is, Ebola is one but there are many problems and we have to listen to them.” It’s not the first Ebola outbreak for Congo, and as a glimmer of hope, officials say at least one health care worker was discharged earlier this week after recovering. But international commitments to fund their response aren’t enough. Only one-third of the needed funds have been delivered, the W.H.O. chief says. “Do you think the world is moving fast enough right now?” “It’s starting to understand now, but I still don’t think it’s enough.”
By Bethlehem Feleke, Michael Anthony Adams and Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
May 30, 2026
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Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that further solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia, according to reports.
The deal, finalized Wednesday at an international security forum in Russia, followed a meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob.
The Taliban Defense Ministry announced on X that Yaqoob had traveled to Russia to attend the conference.
Yaqoob is the Taliban’s former military chief and the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
AL QAEDA REMAINS MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST GROUP 24 YEARS AFTER 9/11, EXPERT WARNS
Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a new military-technical cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
Omar had formed a close alliance with Osama bin Laden and provided a safe haven from which al Qaeda planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As of Thursday, neither Russia nor the Afghan side had shared the further details of the new military agreement.
“Afghanistan and Russia have long and historical relations. In this direction, we want to move further. We have expanded bilateral relations,” Yaqoob said at the meeting.
The pact follows statements from a senior Russian security official who noted that Moscow has established a “full-fledged partnership” with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban and is encouraging other countries in the region to expand cooperation with Kabul, Reuters reported.
The Taliban had regained power in August 2021, after overthrowing the U.S.-backed Afghan government run by President Ashraf Ghani.
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization.
FORMER AFGHAN TRANSLATOR WARNS OF STARVATION, HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: ‘BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED IN 2001’
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/AP, File)
In 2024, he called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” and Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
“After several years of vacillation, Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan,” Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian foreign and domestic policies, Islamism and Russia’s policy in the Middle East, said in a report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“It’s more of a symbolic gesture than something driven by trade or economic considerations,” Smagin added, describing how when Taliban militants entered the Afghan capital in August 2021, “Russia was already deemed eligible for special treatment.”
“Its diplomatic mission was immediately provided with security, and Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov became the first foreign diplomat to meet with the new rulers of Afghanistan,” he explained.
On Wednesday, Shoigu also called for Western countries to unfreeze sanctioned Afghan assets.
AFGHANISTAN’S ONLY WOMEN-LED RADIO STATION TO RESUME OPERATIONS AFTER TALIBAN LIFTS SUSPENSION
Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
“We are convinced that Western countries should unfreeze blocked Afghan assets, fully recognize their responsibility for their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, and bear the burden of the country’s post-conflict reconstruction,” Shoigu said, according to reports.
“Moscow needs to take steps that will restore its image as an influential power that holds the initiative, and recognition of the Taliban regime serves precisely that purpose,” Smagin added.
“The status of the first country to establish official diplomatic relations with the Taliban government should ensure Russia has a leading role in discussions of regional security issues.”
The recognition of the Taliban, he said, was an attempt by Russia to “prove itself as a leading global force that is not afraid to break established norms and set precedents for other countries.”
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Moscow continues to emphasize the need to work directly with Kabul as it faces severe, ongoing security threats from various rival Islamist militant groups operating throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, Reuters said.
Shoigu also said Moscow was building a “pragmatic dialogue” with the Taliban that included security, trade, culture and humanitarian support, the outlet reported May 14.
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