Jon Batiste sings for Macron at Biden’s first state dinner | Entertainment

Nantucket, Mass. (AP) — musician jon baptiste Upcoming performance at President Joe Biden’s show First White House State Dinner Thursday will highlight the longstanding relationship between the United States and France and honor President Emmanuel Macron.

“Jon Batiste is an artist who spans generations and whose music is inspiring and brings people together,” said first lady Jill Biden’s spokeswoman Van Vanessa Valdivia said her office was overseeing preparations for the dinner.

“We’re thrilled to have him perform at the White House for the first state dinner of the Biden-Harris administration,” Valdivia said.

Macron’s formal dinner will be part of a busy social season at the White House.Biden’s granddaughter Naomi getting married on the south lawn earlier this month. First lady Jill Biden is scheduled to unveil White House decorations on Monday, which will be visited by thousands of holidaymakers next month.

Baptiste will add the White House entertainer to an already long list of roles that includes recording artist, bandleader, music director, film composer, museum creative director and scion of New Orleans music royalty.

he won five grammy awards This year, album of the year includes “We Are”. At the awards show in April, Baptiste ended his dance-filled performance of “Freedom” by jumping on Billie Eilish’s table.

Baptiste, 36, was most recently the bandleader and music director of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” leaving after seven years on the air.

Batiste composed, served as song consultant and arranged for Pixar’s animated film Soul. He won a Golden Globe for music alongside Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The trio also won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Batiste, Reznor and Ross won a Grammy for Best Score for Visual Media for their work on “Soul.”

The Washington Post first reported that Baptiste would perform at the dinner.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.