Jon Batiste World Festival-Batiste and Voices Songs of Hope and Change

Jon Batiste brings Batiste and Voices: Songs of Hope and Change to KOKO, London on 26 June 2026. A pianist, singer and composer shaped by New Orleans, he blends jazz, soul, R&B, pop and gospel into a live set built around the force of collective singing. From the piano, he leads a band and a chorus of invited voices, moving from tight grooves to open, call-and-response passages where the audience is invited to join in.

Known for his group Stay Human and his tenure shaping the sound of the Late Show, Batiste extends that mix of craft and spontaneity onstage. The set draws on WE ARE and World Music Radio, alongside reworked standards and themes he composed for film, arranged for ensemble and choir. The thread is clear: songs about hope and change, carried by harmonies rooted in the gospel tradition and a feel for melody that travels easily across styles.

Surprise guests are part of the format, and the music leaves space for moments that blur the line between stage and floor. A concert built as a shared experience: voices layered over piano lines, rhythms that pull the room together, and songs that live through the people who sing them.