One of the best-known jazz musicians of his generation, virtuoso pianist, singer, bandleader, educator and television personality Jon Batiste has spent his career bringing that music back to where it started — that is, with the people.

From his days at Juilliard, where he established his Stay Human band by playing around New York City's subways and in street performances he called "love riots," to his work since 2015 as the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Louisiana native has consistently channeled his superb technical skill and deep knowledge of jazz tradition towards a specific, intentional purpose: making people's lives better and brighter.