Jon Batiste will be replaced by Louis Cato as ‘The Late Show’ bandleader as he leaves after 7 years
Jon Batiste, a Grammy and Academy Award winner, will be leaving The Late Show after seven seasons, as stated by Stephen Colbert today.
“We’ve been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for the past seven years. And will we miss him here? ‘Yeaaa!’ But we’re happy for you, Jon, and I can’t wait to have you back on as guest with your next hit record,” Colbert remarked.
Since Colbert took over the show in 2014, Batiste has served as the band’s leader. His music career has been booming over the past two years, with Oscar and Grammy wins in 2020 and this year, respectively, for his Soul score and five Grammys, including Album of the Year.
When the eighth season of The Late Show premieres, Louis Cato, who has been serving as interim bandleader this summer, will take over permanently.
“Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won’t say this,” Colbert said. “But I will. He’s a musical genius. He can play basically every instrument over there. Give him an afternoon, he’ll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.”
Cato, who has been with The Late Show from the beginning, will be joined by Joe Saylor, who has played with Louis since the programme is debut, and by Louis Fouché, Jon Lampley, Endea Owens, and Nêgah Santos, who have been with the show is house band from its conception as well.
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to work on this show, alongside some of the most talented musicians and creatives I know,” Cato said. “Watching and learning from both Jon and Stephen for these past seven years, I’m genuinely excited to continue the tradition of excellence they’ve established.”
On September 6th, Stephen Colbert will return for his seventh season of The Late Show.
Cato has been nominated for a Grammy and is an accomplished musician, producer, and composer. Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Talib Kweli, Snarky Puppy, David Sanborn, George Duke, Bobby McFerrin, Marcus Miller, John Scofield, and A Tribe Called Quest are just few of the musicians he is collaborated with. Cato’s debut solo album, Starting Now (2016), which he also mixed and produced entirely by himself, followed a decade of contributing his talents to other projects. His upcoming album, Reflections, is now under post-production.