Last night’s show was a good example of the questions I have about Batiste (I do notice I had been spelling and saying his name incorrectly).
I am pretty sure he played on Candice Bergen with the theme from Newhart. This raised the question, is there a sly or subtle connection (I checked to see if maybe she was born or went to school in Vermont, but no) or was it possible they somehow confused the shows. Or, as frankly seems his approach much of the time, did they just choose a random TV sitcom them to play in her honor? I want to think there is a cryptic, smart or hip explanation for things like this, but not sure what it is. Later in the show he played a song from his new album. This led to a nice conversation between Colbert and Batiste, free of the forced, artificial gimmicks that made so much of their interactions uncomfortable early on. The performance was nice, and it did make me want to listen to more of his album. But it also reinforced my impression of his music that, while technically impressive and marked by really beautiful moments, lacks a sustained intensity and energy. As with the logic underlying his play on music selections, it is very possible I am just missing something, out of my own ignorance. I do not hate Batiste, and I want to love him. I enjoyed his appearances on The Colbert Report. I don’t love him (yet) on the show, but I no longer actively dislike him. On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 9:34 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 9:30 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I have been a critic of Baptiste, and a lot of what I don’t like is still >> there (his mumbled comments on the monologue are often incoherent). But >> there have been significant improvements: they have less annoying monkey >> business between him and Colbert at the open, less interaction between them >> at all, and what is there is less forced. It’s always better when the A >> guest interacts with Baptiste and gushes over him. Also, my impression is >> that over the last year they have given increased focus to the drummer, >> which is a good idea. IMO Baptiste is still not adding much “wins above >> replacement”, but he is no longer a drag on the show. >> >> I noticed Last night he played “Maniac” for Emma Stone, which is one of >> the few times I was able to detect a connection. This of course was a great >> joy with Paul. I get the feeling there often is an intended reference by >> Baptiste, perhaps over my head musically (or, it could be that Baptiste’s >> versions of even recognizable songs are idiosyncratic). Is anyone keeping >> track of the Baptiste play on music? >> > > I listened to a lot of be-bop era and 50s jazz many years ago and I > recognize some of the standards Jon plays when a guest comes out but the > names of the pieces don't come to me any more. > > One that I recognize is that when Colbert mentions the pee tape, Batiste > plays a phrase from Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle, Tinkle." > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
